


Manipulation

by Element_of_Malice



Category: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Dark, Anger, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Betrayal, Between Rage and Serenity, Dark Past, Deception, Difficult Decisions, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Good Intentions, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internal Conflict, Jekyll and Hyde, Mild Blood, Original Character(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Rebellion, References to Depression, Science Fiction, Self-Destruction, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2020-02-15 18:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18675481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Element_of_Malice/pseuds/Element_of_Malice
Summary: Strange rumors begin to arise all across Equestria. A crystal guard pegasus goes mad after following an unknown creature into the artic glacier field, the changelings cut themselves off from the rest of the world for no apparent reason, and even in the human world, the danger is unavoidable. But hey, what do we have to worry about when Trixie has been called on a friendship quest?





	1. A New threat

**Author's Note:**

> I have spent almost a year typing this up, but ever since season 9 came out, I've seen my ideas for this fanfiction used with each aired episode, which I'm totally okay with because it helps make my story even more realistic and relatable. But I feel frustrated that I didn't get the chance to post this without it looking like I'm copying it from the show in some way. Case in point, (*(*(SPOILER WARNING: \\\\\\\if Thorax gets replaced by the enemy, or the enemy's turn against themselves, or Chrysalis gets reformed, or an all-out war unfolds causing every creature in Equestria to band together in harmony to fight against one common enemy ////)*)*) then you'll know what I'm talking about.
> 
> I worked hard on this an after losing about half of what I wrote when my computer committed suicide and having to retype what was lost and more between classes and two jobs, I hope you'll understand where my frustration is coming from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put a lot of effort into typing this, and I know that I'm not as good at it as other enthusiastic writers, but I'm trying. If you don't like my style of writing I apologize and only ask that you don't criticize me for it and let other readers enjoy the story as much as I did while creating it.  
> thank you, and please share this with your friends for all those who enjoy a good story.

A rapid knocking erupted at the doors of the crystal palace. A ‘very enthused’ purple dragon answered it staring blatantly back with a deadpan expression. There were two overwhelmingly giddy unicorns on the other side looking as if they were about to explode from their emotions like a super-sized confetti cannon on overload.

“Spike!!!” exclaimed the lavender one, known as Starlight Glimmer, “You will not believe… well, maybe you will because, uh you know…”

She didn’t get to finish because of the baby blue unicorn’s interruption, “So Starlight and I were just walking along and then BOOM! I, the great and powerful Trixie, have been chosen to single-handedly resolve a friendship’s quarrel, and oh,” she suddenly remembered, “Starlight will also be coming with.” They both pointed a hoof at their glowing cutie mark beaming profoundly.

Spike rolled his eyes before slapping a hand over his face followed by a sigh, “Follow me, right this way,” gesturing for the two to come in. Starlight and Trixie followed the dragon, squealing and giggling all the way down the corridor.

 

* * *

 

Being chosen as a guard pony indicated high power and authority. They had to always be ready for invaders to attack, and these highly skilled warriors were not easily overpowered. Over a millennium ago, that would have been true. Now, however, after centuries of peace and order softening them up, the title had been lessened to subpar.

Up until a few years ago, before the return of Princess Luna, most excitement came from hearing of minor disagreements or petty thefts that were dealt with before any guards reached the scene. The moon princess's return, however, has brought forth nothing but one world ending event after another.

Following King Sombra's return and defeat, the crystal guard ponies who fought against their ruler were distributed throughout the land. Their expertise were used to whip the rookies back into shape, employing old training methods that had long since been forgotten through the passage of time. Their goal was to  _ ‘toughen up these slackers _ ’ but also to regain their prestigious status once more. 

All of this is what lead Sharpshooter to where he is now, positioned on the wall of the crystal kingdom as an area patrol guard. His real name was Crack Shot, but he wanted something that sounded more appealing than  _ crack  _ or  _ shot _ as a nickname. Regardless, the reason why he was assigned this position was that he could make out distant objects in stunning detail. He remembered reading the lips of some pony on the opposite end of the Equestria Games stadium just to pass the time. He could also recall what they had just eaten by the food he saw lodged in their teeth.

The Crystal Kingdom was strategically built in the center of the stormy arctic landscape of the north as to weaken the armies of approaching invaders. When the blizzards were  dormant, the miles of flat snow provided no cover for anyone approaching, so they would immediately be detected. Right now though, the snow was causing considerable discomfort for Shooter’s eyes, as the storm had died down, revealing miles of blinding territory as the sun reflected from its… almost flawless surface. The pegasus quickly fixed his gaze more intently in the direction he thought a shadow flickered in the distance. For him, the dark blemish against the snow had been the equivalent to a blinding reflection of light shining directly into your eye at night, but in this case, the lighting was inverted the other way around.

He began to wonder what it could have been.  _ I don’t know any creatures this far north with that shape, and it’s obviously not a pony. Judging by the distance it’s way too big for it to be a changeling, and, even if it  _ was _ a changeling, they aren’t as hostile as they once were, but they’re not that color either. If it  _ is _ a changeling, why would it need to transform into something else when I haven’t seen anything at all for the past 6 hours? _ His eyes had never lied to him before, and right now they told him that something or someone was not where they were supposed to be.  _ It’s better than waiting for more of nothing to happen I guess; I’ll go and investigate _ , the guard made up his mind as he left to receive permission for closer observation.

As the pegasus stallion flew towards the area of interest, he saw no signs hinting that anything had been there, but after hovering in closer, he was genuinely impressed by what he found.  _ Whatever this thing is, it sure doesn't want to be followed _ . After weeks of staring at the snow, he knew what it was supposed to look like. The ground that lay before him was tampered with, hiding all previous signs of any activity  — not even a single footprint was left behind.  _ They’re incredible, I’ve never seen tracks hidden this expertly before, if they had put any more effort into it, I would have completely overlooked it. Not to mention the short amount of time they had to do all this. _

Following the trail proved to be a daunting task for Shooter, as it was uncommon for details to hide from him, but whoever was responsible was quite the professional. He wanted to meet this creature and acknowledge its extraordinary talent, but first, he needed to find out why they were using it at all.

It wasn’t until he entered the glacial fields that he heard the sound of digging up ahead. The noise was coming from around the corner of the ice wall in front of him. Ever so slowly he started to land, being careful not to alert the mysterious creature. He touched the ground soundlessly, but the moment he did, silence filled the air. Wondering if it had finished its burrowing, he waited for it to move around as to muffle the noises of his own actions, one of the old techniques he was taught. When nothing but the sound of water dripping from icicles responded, Shooter nervously peeked around the corner. Other than the small cavity that bore into the side of the glacier, nothing suggested that anything had been there at all. The pegasus felt his heart leap as he was engulfed with pure dread the moment he spotted the outline located at the back of the hole. Only one object came to mind that could fit in the now vacant slot that matched in size and shape. 

King Sombra's horn.

The once confident stallion began to shake as he stood frozen in fear,  _ This can’t be happening! What could anything possibly want with that accursed thing!? _ He was there when the crystal empire was being re-established,  _ I must warn every pony immediately! I’m not taking any chances with something this big. _ He was there when the shadowy form of the malevolent ruler had threatened the safety of his own citizens. The image of the tyrant himself being defeated entered his mind in picture-perfect quality as he remembered watching in bewilderment as pieces of Sombra, horn included, shot themselves into the horizon.  _ Whoever’s responsible for locating a part of that repulsive tormentor is clearly out of their mind, and if they’re as good at fighting as they are hiding, then they’re already too dangerous to _ _ — _ The pathetic-looking guard realized he was being overshadowed by a figure standing behind him. “FORGET WHAT YOU SAW,” these chilling words cut deeper than the frigid air around him. He slowly turned to confront his assailant, but just as he was about to see who it was, his vision blurred, and everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

“We’re just waiting for one more to arrive, then we’ll start getting ready,” Spike informed as he escorted Trixie and Starlight to the castle’s main chamber.

That statement caught the attention of the two unicorns, and their excitement died down, slightly. “There’s a third one?” Trixie questioned in annoyance before she scoffed, “Trixie doesn’t need any help, Trixie can handle this herself. With Starlight tagging along of course.”

“I thought you’d say something like that,” Spike responded, “unfortunately, I’m not the one you should be arguing with about this.” What he said only seemed to confuse the unicorns, that was, until the dragon opened the door into the next room.

Their jaws dropped as they saw who else was present. There was Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, the bearers that held the elements of harmony and they all had glowing marks, but they weren’t the only ones being called. There was also Mage Meadowbrook, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Somnambula, Rockhoof, and Star Swirl the Bearded, who were then followed by the biggest surprise yet, Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, as well as Princess Celestia, all of which had a glowing cutie mark.

Starlight and Trixie were at such a loss for words, that neither pony knew how to react upon seeing this many called on a single friendship mission. Adding to her surprise, Starlight spotted Sunburst on the other side of the room waving her over. His flank told her he was also chosen to participate. She walked over to him passing a few groups having their own conversations about what this mission might have in store.

“I wonder if this has anything to do with what happened the other day,” said Cadence to Twilight, “apparently sometime last week, one of the guards, Crackpot… Oh, dang it. Sorry, that wasn’t his name, uh crack… shot… shooter, Sharp Shooter! That’s what he called himself. Reports say he went out to investigate something he saw but failed to return. By the time he was found, the blizzard was getting too dangerous to keep searching, and he was speaking gibberish, mostly end-of-the-world stuff.”

“That sounds awful,” Twilight said with great concern, “I hope he gets better.”

“So, do I,” Cadence agreed, “at first, we thought it was because of the cold, but with every pony here I’m starting to think otherwise. I’m still waiting to hear from Shining, but if what Crackpot’s saying is… Shoot!” Cadence gave a look of annoyance, “Why did the other patients have to give him that name? If  _ Shooter _ , has any information about what’s happening it may prove to be useful.”

“You know, now that you mention it,” Twilight said thoughtfully, “there’s been some strange activity down in the Changeling area as well. I wonder if that’s also related.”

“Oh? What kind of activity?” Cadence inquired.

“Well, for starters, they’ve completely barricaded themselves from the rest of the world physically and magically, no visitors of any kind, and no information as to why. It’s not like them to act that way.”

“I have to agree,” Cadence paused, “Even if they do get scared easily, something bad must’ve happened to them if they are behaving like that, but what?”

 

* * *

 

Changelings were not the fighters they once were, but their ability to remain hidden from sight was as sharp as ever. It was only natural for them to transform and disappear into their surroundings, even for newborns who were just weeks if not days old. Because of that, they also knew how to spot the signs of something hiding from them. False alarms of danger in the changeling kingdom weren’t unheard of, but after 17 within the past day, scouting parties were sent out to investigate.

Thorax received incoming statements from every direction, which meant it wasn’t coming from one area in particular. That’s why the scouts he sent where being spread evenly throughout their territory, in hopes to encounter what was causing this distress. Despite not knowing where to look, one fact remained consistent: in every reported situation the individual felt like they weren’t alone, and the surrounding area became so painfully nauseating that they had to leave.

The changelings on patrol duty were instructed to avoid as much conflict as possible. This would provide them the opportunity to find out if the trespasser was actually friendly and needed a proper introduction, or if they were hostile and had to be avoided if not relocated. Worst case scenario, they would send word for help to eliminate whatever was out there for the safety of the hive.

Stinger had been at his position for no more than an hour before he got the feeling something was close by. Until the changeling knew what he was up against, Stinger made a significant effort to keep silent, fighting back the new changeling instinct of fleeing from danger as well as old hostile behaviors that were starting to bubble back to life. He had gotten over those feelings long ago but resisting their demands of being release proved difficult.

He noticed no visual change in sight or sound within the area. The longer he waited, the more nauseous he became from the negative emotions surrounding him. Suddenly, he realized there was, in fact, something that struck him as odd. The vibrations he felt traveling through the ground told him that there should be a noise loud enough to be heard, but there was none whatsoever. Focusing on these vibrations, he turned to face the direction they were coming from as they seemed to be approaching.

Now was as good a time as any to find out who it was, “Hello?” 

The vibrating ceased. 

“Who’s there?” 

No response. 

“If you can hear me, I don’t have any intention of harming you, all the changelings and I want to know is what’s going on.” 

Again there was no reply. It was as though he were talking to himself, but he knew something was out there so he kept pushing for an answer. “If you’re friendly, please, feel free to introduce yourself, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

This time there was an answer, but the response they gave was the sound of rapid footsteps quickly drawing near. This frightened the changeling as he tried to locate what was causing the noise but saw nothing. A faint twisted moan began to grow louder with the approaching footsteps.

It was settled, this creature wasn’t by any means friendly, he didn’t have to know what it looked like to tell. Stinger decided to run before it could attack him, but realized he had suddenly forgotten how to move, which only made the feeling of dread within himself increase. It sounded like it should be just a few feet in front of him, but there was still nothing to be seen.

Stinger squeezed his eyes shut and folded himself into a fetal position, bracing for whatever was coming. The last thing he expected to happen, happened — silence filled the air. As the changeling opened one eye, he saw the same empty landscape as before, the dread seemed to have dissipated as he no longer felt like he was being watched. Closing his eyes again, Stinger breathed a great sigh of relief and when he opened them, he found himself staring at his own shadow.

 

* * *

 

Despite Thorax being somewhere in the center of the castle, he was the first one to arrive. When he heard the scream echoing through the chambers, he immediately dropped everything to rush and answer the cry for help. He saw the changeling assigned to this area up ahead, “Stinger are you alright?” Thorax inquired worriedly, slowing down to safely land behind his comrade.

“What happened?” There was no reaction from his fellow changeling brother as he just stood there looking into the horizon. The buzzing sound of wings came from the arrival of more changelings. “Stinger?” Thorax pleaded, walking around to face him, “Tell me what…” he trailed off. The shock from realizing what he was looking at hit him so hard that he backed away, stumbling in the process.

There were black plumes of smoke oozing from Stingers mouth, nostrils, and ears. The eyes he had were not that of a changeling, but of some otherworldly monster never seen before. When the arriving changelings landed, Thorax finally got a response from the creature inside of his friend.  _ “Don’t… inter… fere,” _ it had said in Stinger’s corrupted voice, sounding dry and cracked yet simultaneously slick and infected. Its eyes rolled back, and its head faced the sky as the sound of rushing wind was heard escaping his throat. A column of refractive substance warping the light, image and color escaped out from his open mouth. The only visible evidence of anything happening was stingers shadow, looked it showed there was bellowing amounts of smoke erupting out from within.

After whatever was inside Stinger left, he slouched and started to fall over. “Stinger!” Cried Carapace rushing to his side, collapsing next to him. “Stay with me buddy,” Stinger opened his eyes, “everything will be — spawn of Chrysalis’s abomination —  what did it do to you?” Thorax didn’t have to scan Stinger’s body for long as he immediately saw what was wrong.

When Chrysalis was in power, there were times when changelings who failed to follow orders were tortured as punishment. It was common to see the dying embers of life in the sad faces of those unfortunate few, but the light was there. Stinger had been a victim himself, and after Thorax became the leader the spark of life returned to a blaze, but that wasn’t the case anymore. What was seen in his eyes was an empty abyss, no spark, no light, no purpose, he might as well have been a breathing corpse.

“Fall back.” Thorax said with the same amount of panic that the other changelings felt, “contact all of the changelings and tell them to return to the hive immediately! Once they do, begin building up all our defense’s, physical, magical, I don’t care! As of now, we’re on lockdown until we know it’s safe!” He took off and said, “I’m going to go back and tell everyone what’s happened,” before he sped off to the castle.

As soon as he arrived, a thought occurred to him, “Maybe Twilight and her friends will know what to do.” He said, his mind racing a million miles a minute, “I know I’ll send a letter, yeah that’s what I’ll do! I’ll send one to all the princesses actually, Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Princess Flurryheart for all I care!”

Thorax rushed into his chambers flustered and began to compose his letters requesting for immediate backup. 

_ Dear Princess… _

The moment the pen touched the paper Thorax was grabbed from behind, a taloned hand lightly squeezing his throat making him drop the quill. His blood instantly froze from sheer terror, his massive adrenaline rush only managed to make him quiver uncontrollably, and his breathing ceased.

All Thorax could do was think. 

_ Help… please… _

Soft chuckling could be heard from his left, tears starting to form as he began taking quick shallow breaths. 

_ Someone… save me… _

Hot breath seemed to burn cold against his ear as he closed his eyes. 

_ I don’t want to die. _

_ “You’re interfering.” _

 

* * *

 

“Thorax!” Pharynx said approaching his brother, “What’s happening? It looks like we’re preparing for an invasion. Mind explaining why?”

“There’s been a situation,” He stated, “one of our scouts were attacked by — ”

“ATTACKED!! WHERE ARE THEY? I’LL TEAR THEM LIMB FROM LIMB!!”

“Their current whereabouts are unknown,” Thorax reassured calmly, “but until then, we cannot allow anyone or anything to come in or out. That’s why we’re building up our defenses, and due to our lack of information we are not going to attack.”

“But — ”

“ _ Pharynx! _ Did you not hear about Stinger?”

“Yeah but — ”

“Well, I saw it! You should understand why we can’t just senselessly go out there and get our brothers and sisters injured — or worse — _ killed _ ! We are officially going into quarantine from the rest of the world until further notice,  _ do you understand! _ ”

“I…” he knew his brother was never this aggressive, so Pharynx figured whatever was happening was very severe, “Yes.”

“Good. Now, do what you can to make our defenses as impenetrable as possible on both sides.”

 

* * *

 

Starlight was about to ask Sunburst something when she heard a familiar voice floating above the group, “I still don’t see why  _ I _ had to be dragged into this,” Discord complained lazily, flowing above everyone next to the chandelier, digging a talon inside one of his ears. “I mean, at least Fluttershy is coming with, but still, the lord of chaos does not do friendship. I’m just glad that there’s others who can cover for me when I’m expected to actually do something.” He pulled out a lit candle in the shape of himself from his ear “Humph, earwax, no wonder everything sounded as dull as this room,” he said before extinguishing the flame and started using it to wax his claws.

“OH, COME ON!!!” Trixie bellowed, “Please tell me I’m not going to have to tolerate another trip with that draconequus! Trixie suddenly doesn’t feel so special anymore,” she said in a huff, folding her hoofs.

“Now, now, don’t be like that sugar cube,” said Applejack, “The princesses themselves were called. Said that right there’s enough trouble to say we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“O-okay but wait!” Starlight stammered, “Spike said there was one more coming.  _ Who could that possibly BE!!? _ ”

 

* * *

 

“Any luck?” Sunset asked hopefully as Rainbow rapidly approached, “please tell me you found something.”

“Sorry, I still got nothing,” she huffed from the half hour of almost non-stop running, “At first, this seemed like it was a good idea, but I’m starting to question it. I mean, everyone who lives here comes to the mall at least once a day right? But if I was anywhere near my necklace, then I should’ve already been going super speed by now. After that, we would be able to find our necklaces within seconds.”

“This is  _ very _ bad. How could this be happening!?” Sunset Shimmer was briskly pacing nervously around one of the café tables inside the building. Two nights ago, she put her necklace on her bedside before she went to sleep, only to find it missing the next morning. After her other friends said that theirs were also nowhere to be seen, it became evident that they were stolen.

“Sunset  _ please _ tell me you told the other Twilight about our dilemma,” Twilight pleaded, looking as though she was a week behind in her studies. “I’m starting to worry where they are, and the fact that Tirek broke out of prison and my research lab has been rummaged is really making me paranoid,” said Twilight frantically, trying to stay calm by fidgeting with whatever was in reach of her hands.

“I said it once, and I’ll say it again. I left the book I used to do that back at the school. But because Rainbow “impatient” Dash couldn’t wait for us to get in line for the autographed first edition limited time only ‘ _ Daring Do and the Dark Deeds Demons Do to Monsters _ ’ she dragged me away so fast I swear we broke the sound barrier… TWICE!! But that’s when we could actually use our magic.”

“Come on! I said I was sorry,” Rainbow said, genuinely apologetic.

Sunset sighed, “No, I’m sorry. It’s just that with our geodes missing we’re all on edge.”

“Twilight dear,” Rarity chimed in, “I still find it hard to believe that anyone broke into your lab, as far as I’m concerned it’s always looked the way it is.”

“I hate to admit it Twi, but to be honest with ya, I’ll have to side with Rarity on this one,” said Applejack reluctantly, agreeing with the fashionista, “That lab of yours looks more jumbled up than a twister runnin’ over a china shop that a stampede of cattle just went through. Not to be rude or anythin’ but it doesn’t make a lick of sense as to why anyone would ever — ”

“Alright fine!!” Twilight exploded as a blue jay landed next to Fluttershy, “Let me put it to you this way! Tirek has escaped prison. My lab, which, just so you know, I meticulously keep organized in my own way, has been burglarized! And let me tell you what I found MISSING!”

“Oh dear, girls!” said Fluttershy failing to catch the attention of her friends who were still listening to Twilights outburst.

“The very same blueprints to the device that allowed me to locate Equestrian magic in this world.”

“Girls, please listen — ”

“If you also add the fact that our necklaces are missing, do you know what that tells me?! That tells me Tirek broke out of prison, broke into my lab, built that device only to break into our homes and take our magic from us! That means he knows where we live!” The thought of a ruthless criminal being in their rooms while they slept made them all shiver uncomfortably, “Actually, now that I’m saying it out loud, that wouldn’t make sense for Tirek to just randomly break into my lab. Judging by his methods, it doesn’t match the thoroughness of the real culprit. Besides — ”

“LISTEN TO ME!” Fluttershy said just loud enough to finally catch their attention, “We’re in danger, we have to go!”

“Uh, what makes you think that Flutters?” Rainbow asked, confused as the rest of her friends.

“A little bird told me, but that’s not import — ”

“Hold it!” Twilight cut her off, “When you say, ‘little bird’ did you mean figuratively or literally?”

“It was that blue jay over there, but this doesn’t — ”

“Fluttershy can talk to the animals!?” Sunset beamed with excitement, “That means our necklaces are close! Maybe if we split up, we can find the one responsible for taking them faster.”

Fluttershy started to sound desperate as she tried to warn them about what she was told, “We have to go.”

“Your absolutely right Fluttershy,” said Pinky who then proceeded to give an inspirational speech, “Let’s go and find whoever took what was rightfully ours and teach them that if they mess with the power of our friendship, they will be ANNIHILATED!! And if they resist, we can just unite our power and blast them into a crater. That usually works.”

“No, wait!” Fluttershy had to let everyone know what she knew before it was too late. But they were already setting up groups.

“Twilight, you and Spike should stick together,” Sunset suggested, “Pinkie, you’ll be with Applejack, Rarity, I think you and I should team up, as for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, now that we can use magic again Fluttershy can ask the animals for help, and Rainbow can cover the most ground with her speed. Alright let’s start looking,”

“Way ahead of you,” Rainbow said as she got ready to run. Before she realized what was happening Fluttershy was tackling her to the ground. “Fluttershy what gives!?”

“We have to run!” She said as directly as possible, still holding on to Rainbows legs.

“That’s what I was just about to do before you — ”

“You don’t understand! Please, everyone, just listen to me. We have to get out of here before — ” What she was about to say was lost due to a nearby explosion throwing them back and opening up a jagged hole in the wall. “Oh no, we’re too late. He’s here.”

“Who?” asked Twilight rubbing the back of her head.

Fluttershy clung tighter to Rainbow Dash for comfort, “Tirek.”


	2. The Faceless Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunset and her friends find themselves in a tight spot when an escaped felon crosses their path, but it pays to have unknown friends in high places. But is it worth it?

With the roar of an engine, a motorcycle emerged from the dust flying through the hole. Tirek wore a biker helmet with two horns on it making him look like a bull and a sleeveless long coat that seemed like a perfect place to store half an armory. “if your smart, you’ll do as I say.” Tirek got off his bike and reached inside his coat, pulling out a full-auto assault rifle, firing it into the ceiling. Raising his voice, he began to make his demands, “now that I got your attention, I want everyone here to line up on the wall. If I see anything that looks suspicious, you’ll find that I’m not very forgiving.”

Sunset looked up, “note to self, never interrupt Futtershy when she’s trying to tell you something.”

“Great,” whispered Rainbow, “what are we going to do?”

“until we can come up with a decent plan,” Twilight stood and held up her hands, “I think we should do what he says.” The others shortly followed, except for Rainbow.

“Futtershy you can let me go now… come on at least… oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Tirek glared down at her, “What’s taking you so long?”

With a nervous chuckle Rainbow started to explain. “well, uh, you see, my friend here doesn’t handle stressful situations too well, and currently, she’s passed out and stiff as a board. I’m actually starting to lose feeling to my legs.” Tirek put the rifle away and pulled out a shotgun cocking it before pointing it at her. “Wait! I have an idea,” Rainbow practically army crawled over to the wall. When she reached her destination, she turned around and sat down, “There, hehe, at least I’m against the wall, right?”

“Don’t test my patience.”

Panic covered her face as she turned to her two friends that were next to her, “help me up, help me up, help me up!” they grabbed her arms and pulled.

The moment she was standing, a shot was fired, and dust fell from a newly formed hole no more than a foot away. “That was my only warning shot, next time I won’t miss.” Tirek started pacing up and down the line, speaking loudly for everyone to hear. “Word on the street says that there’s been some unusual activity going on around here. The term that was used was ‘magic.’ I want to know where I can find the source of these rumors, and if they prove to be accurate, I want to know who can use this ‘magic’ and all of their known weaknesses.”

“FOUND IT!” every head turned toward the speaker. It was a blond-haired grey skin girl with eyes that were facing two different directions.

“Derpy You dunce,” Rainbow said through clenched teeth as she watched her waving around the cellphone that she just dug out of the trash can. Her smile instantly melted away when one of her eyes focused on the inside of the shotgun barrel, pointing at her.

Everybody closed their eyes. “it was nice knowing you ditsy,” was all Applejack could say before gunfire was heard. When they opened them, they were stunned by what they saw. A crystalline barrier had protected Ditsy from the shot.

“Smart thinking,” Sunset whispered to Rarity, “but now we need to be extra careful.”

“That’s not me.”

Sunset didn’t have time to say anything else before a posh sounding voice was heard, “how dare you! You beefed up brutish boneheaded baboon brained barbaric buffoon!! Where were you raised, in a cave!?” A slim yet sturdy figure wearing an exaggerated suit with a top hat, gloves, a cape with an extravagant diamond patchwork design, and a full-face mask with no eyeholes. The most noticeable feature of the mask were the seven gems of different color decorating the face. “Excuse my tone, but I will not just simply stand by letting an innocent and lovely bystander get murdered while I can say anything about it, and here’s what I have to say.” he lifted his cane and pulled out a sword, then stood in a strong fighting stance, “en garde.”

There was a momentary silence before Tirek burst into a fit of laughter, “you look absolutely ridiculous, how can you possibly think that you can beat me with that?”

“I think he looks quite charming in that outfit,” Rarity said, fascinated by the stunningly intricate design of his attire. “In fact, that rather lavish … no, that can’t possibly be what I think it is.”

“Maybe if you planned to make me die laughing then it almost worked,” Tirek said, collecting himself and putting the shotgun away. “unfortunately, this stunt is going to cost you.” He lifted his machine gun and pointed it towards Rarity.

In one move that could only be described as a blur, the stranger closed the distance between him and Tirek the tip of the sword up against his throat. “That would be unwise.” He said as the gun fell to the floor in three sliced up pieces.

With a look of half surprise and half wonder and amusement Tirek slowly backed up, “I clearly underestimated your abilities,” he said with a smirk raised his hands to his head, then in one solid motion, swung the bat he grabbed with all his strength. However, all the stranger had to do was lift one arm causing the bat to splinter on impact, then casually returned to his original position as if it never happened. Now with a look of confusion and a hint of worry, Tirek asked the question that was now on everyone’s mind, “Who are you?”

As though it had been rehearsed, he changed his stance to a slight but proper bow that only seemed fitting for a royal introduction, “My name is Sir E, and I’ll be your waiter this afternoon.” Straightening from his bow, it almost seemed like he was smiling under his mask. “today’s special, Justice, will be served once it’s ready, but for now how about an appetizer. I would suggest the cold cut steel combo,” he lifted his sword to emphasize what he meant. “But judging by your appearance, you look like you would be more interested in a knuckle sandwich.” He discarded the sword and raised his fists, “it comes with a punch I’ve been told that tastes like defeat, but I always find it to be victory flavored.”

At this point, it started to feel less stressful to everyone and slightly more amusing as if they were watching the final showdown on TV or in a video game happening right in front of them. There were even a few groups that actually started to place bets on who might have a better chance. The low murmuring allowed Sunset and the others a chance to talk a little more openly without the fear of Tirek overhearing. “Is it just me or does it look like he’s using our magic,” she asked as the skirmish continued.

“My speed, Applejack’s strength, Rarity’s crystal shields, not to mention our geodes on his face, come on what kind of question is that!” Rainbow Dash said struggling to free herself from Futtershy’s grip, “I’m surprised Tirek has lasted this long against him.”

“The cape looks authentic, but I would have to take a closer look at his gloves and shoes. That hat also seems too perfect a fit to not be tailored.”

“Uh, Rarity?” asked Applejack just as an activated grenade was turned into confetti in Sir E’s hand, “what are you going on about?”

“Hm? Oh! That attire Sir E is wearing. Very few people in the fashion world could tell you that that is not just any one-of-a-kind vintage masterpiece, but a legendary impossibility. It’s too unique to be anything else but too pristine to be an original.”

An incendiary bullet blew up a pillar, but Sir E held it up with his strength and used the crystals to push away anyone that could have gotten hurt and stopped falling debris.

“Please allow me to explain. That outfit, if it’s what I think it is, is a Baroque slash renaissance styled Victorian-era work of genius whose blueprints and cutouts were lost and destroyed centuries ago. Not only that but any remnant found of its once magnificent yet brief period in the world are not full sets and considered priceless relics. Back then owning one meant that you had deep pockets even among the richest of the high society, and that didn’t include the cape, which is why there were so few of them made.”

As Sunset watched the fight, Sir E’s fighting style seemed elegant and fluent, but it also had a familiar kind of motion, but she wasn’t sure why. “But information on them is so scarce that they have practically been forgotten, even though they are still considered as the greatest design ever created, nobody has ever figured out how to accurately replicate them. But it seems like what he’s wearing is the full package, and it’s tailored to his form but after what I said that can’t be true, and the cost. HA! Referring to it as incalculable would be absurd! The only way to obtain it now is to inherit what’s left of one.”

Twilight spoke up, “uh I don’t see how that fits in with what’s going on.”

“He’s wearing something that shouldn’t exist, he’s fighting an armed criminal with his bare hands and winning.” They turned to see him ‘dish out’ a helping of ‘spaghetti meatballs’ by elbowing Tirek in the gut, grabbing his shotgun to perform an uppercut on his skull and firing the gun in a safe direction to use the kickback delivering the final blow causing most of the males to go weak-kneed, and everyone else to cringe. “Not to mention, he’s using our magic! This means he’s not just any normal person, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was from a different planet.” Sunset instantly realized where she had seen those movements and knew where he was from, but before she could speak up a noise sounding like a mix between an explosion, zap, and a pop followed by a shatter drew their focus back to the fight.

“Oh boy,” Rainbow stated only being one leg away from freedom.

“Ah don’t like the way things are goin,” Applejack expressed with worry.

Sir E had thrown up a shield, but that did no good against the weapon, a small pistol-like device, Tirek now held. “This isn’t good,” he said, fear creeping into his once calm voice, his hand covering his exposed face, his mask now at his feet strap burnt and its white surface blackened from the impact of the blast.

With shaky legs and a satisfied grin, Tirek chuckled, “Why didn’t I use this earlier?”

“That weapon,” said a new deep voice that seemed to vibrate the building, the speaker was large enough to make Bulk Biceps look like a marshmallow. Where Sir E, in his expensive white suit, had a kind, warm, and comforting glow, this man, wearing an old worn black trench coat, rose up every red flashing flag that screamed danger. His emotionless face looked like it was set in cold hard steel, but his gaze was easily on par with Futtershy’s stare, like how an enraged parent would be to a spoiled, disobedient, and selfish child. He began to walk towards Tirek prosthetic legs echoing with every step. “It negated the magic being used, didn’t it?”

Sir E slid his foot in a circular motion to push his mask behind him. With a flick of the wrist, it flew into Rarity’s hands. “Fix that strap this instant woman!” He said in an unexpectedly harsh manner as Tirek shot the newcomer in the chest.

The smell of decay wafted through the air shortly followed by burnt flesh, “Your intention was to kill, wasn’t it?” He said unperturbed by the injury he just inquired as he continued to walk closer. It now felt to everyone watching as if a blazing bonfire was engulfing their soul and amplifying in temperature the longer this behemoth newcomer was active. Tirek, now petrified, looked fearful as he started panicking, firing two more close-range shots. “You planned to hunt down whoever was using magic one by one and murder them right!?” With one swift motion, he grabbed the gun and delivered a substantial blow to the jaw. Tirek got launched to the third floor going through a balcony and a few walls on the way. The slow-moving giant followed right behind his newly found punching bag in an impossibly sluggish leap that looked more like an act of levitation then it did a jump.

With shaky hands, Rarity began to rummage through her bag looking for a ribbon necessary to make the repairs. “Um, I need…”

“Seven and a half inches across and nine and three eights vertically, it doesn’t have to look pretty it just has to hold, now start working on it!” each word Sir E spoke, became harsher than the last one.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said finally getting free from Futtershy’s grip, “what gives you the right to talk to my friend like that.”

With his hand still covering his face, Sir E hissed and increased his volume with every word, “I am more rational when I’m focused, I am more focused when I’m calm, I am more calm when I’m composed, and I am more composed when I’m wearing that mask! Now if you don’t like the way I’m acting you will hurry it up!! NOW DO AS I SAY!!!!” he said ending with an outraged near unearthly roar.

“Hand it over,” Rainbow said speeding over to Rarity and within seconds the strap was haphazardly repaired, and the gemstones were removed before it was tossed back to Sir E. She was surprised to find how easily they came out and that they were still attached to the necklaces. “You said it didn’t have to look pretty, so this should work.”

“Terribly sorry,” said Sir E in his friendlier voice as he put his mask back on, “Please excuse my rashness, but I’m not myself when I don’t have my mask on.”

“Uh, yeah, we noticed,” Twilight said, wanting to say more but got cut off when Sir E lifted his hand.

“I know you have a lot of questions, but would you mind waiting until after I prevent someone from getting killed?”

“Ya mean yer friend, right? That sounds like a good idea,” Applejack agreed, “I reckon that whatever them bullets where that Tirek used caused a lot a damage, consideren that it blasted through yer barrier the way it did.”

“I was actually referring to Tirek. If we don’t hurry, Riot is going to murder him slowly.”

Meanwhile, just before Riot jumped to the third floor, Tirek stirred from where he landed in unbearable pain and coughing up unknown fluids. _If I don’t think of something soon_ , He thought rummaging through his coat wincing from every move _, this guy is going to kill me!_ He found what he was looking for, five syringes. He remembered being told to use them only if it was crucial and in limited amounts. In the middle of deciding how much to use, Riot seemingly materialized from the dust still falling from the walls, and with that, he injected all of it into himself.

The reaction was instant, every injury he obtained began to heal, and his fatigue vanished as energy began to rapidly increase. Feeling stronger and more confident than he ever has in his entire life, he stood laughing with anticipation and faced his opponent. What he saw shattered every ounce of confidence he just acquired and was quickly replaced with the feeling of absolute certainty that he was going to die.

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, Tirek can say that was true due to the number of times he has seen the life leave through them whenever he left a new victim behind. He also knew that everyone had something to fear, not that he would tell you what they were, but he had a few fears of his own, and the number one fear Tirek now had, was seeing that the creature he was up against had no fear and no soul. The burning image of a psychopath grinning with a look of nightmarish pleasure and excitement was shadowing the reality of an expressionless face that had the eyes of an empty, lifeless void.

Even the most powerful weapons ever built are ineffective if they are used in the wrong hands, and that also applies with lashing out in panic. Even Tirek agreed how stupid his actions were as his body acted on its own. First, Tirek threw a particle grenade that was backhanded so hard by Riot he heard it break the sound barrier next to his ear. Next, he pulled out a single shot rocket launcher, after it hit Riot in the mouth, it ended up getting swallowed. Riot put a hand on his stomach and hunched over, after a spontaneous act of excessive vomiting, Sir E and seven girls stood at the entrance of the medium-sized room. They watched him get up and wipe away a little puke and blood with the back of his hand from his mouth. “Is that your best shot?” Said Riot before continuing forward.

Applejack ran into the closing gap between Riot and Tirek, “Now just hold it right there!”

“Out of my way.” Riot ordered as he lifted one arm straight up.

Sir E grabbed Twilight’s necklace and outstretched his hand. Applejack held her arms up to block the blow but saw Rarity’s crystal barrier surround her as she felt the tug of a telepathic force pulling her away. Riot’s downward thrust broke straight through the shield and biffed Applejack’s elbow before she was thrown back to the group.

Sir E caught her in his arms as she tightly hugged her injury. “Ah… ah think he… he broke my arm,” Applejack grunted through clenched teeth her right arm shaking uncontrollably, a dark purple bruise started to form on a bend in her arm that was just below her elbow.

“Imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t pulled you out,” said Sir E.

Tirek fumbled pulling out a foot-long blade that extended to three feet in length, glowed green and hummed with energy.

“Okay hold it, pause, timeout, stop the fanfic here! Why did you have to hurt my friend like that, forget Tirek having a lightsaber I want to know why Applejack had to get hurt so bad, I demand to know an answer!”

“Uh, how did…? Oh, right, I forgot you were able to do this. Listen, Pinkie, I’m just narrating this, I didn’t actually write it myself.”

“that doesn’t answer my question, besides I thought that this was a fandom based off of a kid-friendly tv series. Also, who are these guys and how come they’re so strong, why does Tirek have such dangerous weapons somebody’s going to get killed. why couldn’t you change it, so Applejack doesn’t get hurt so bad, and what about what’s going on in the other…?”

“Okay, how about I make you a deal.”

_“what kiiiiinnndd of deeeaal?”_

“Well, first of all, please understand that I’m just the narrator, so as long as I like the story, I read whatever’s given to me, and second even though you can break the fourth wall I doubt even you can alter the time stream.”

“That’s why you change the story before you...”

“I was getting to that, now please let me finish. I can’t undo what I said, and I know that even you don’t have the time to go to all of the versions of this story and change it because you would have to make the readers, listeners, watchers, the audience in general, forget what they just heard or saw or whatever.”

“I see your point _aaaannnnnd_?”

“Well, to answer two questions at once, this is an alternate-universe fanfiction, where two dimensions crossover with one another. The guys you're up against come from a world where this kind of behavior is tolerated and common but is strongly opposed. It will be explained in a moment, but I don’t want to spoil it any more for the audience. Although I’ll at least tell you some important information regarding Applejack. Listen carefully, once I tell you, will you pinkie promise not to interrupt again.”

“Oki Doki Loki, but that only depends on what you have to tell me. Now, let your lips loose.”

“Tirek used five syringes to heal himself, and there are seven of you.”

“Oooh, so you’re telling me that there are more medicine thingies I can use to help heal up Applejack. Okay, that’s good enough for me, cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I promise to not interrupt again. Alrighty, I’m going to leave now and let you get back to your job.”

“Phew, glad that’s settled, but now I have to build the suspense again, alright bear with me here.”

Applejack ran into the closing gap between Riot and Tirek, “Now just hold it right there!”

“Out of my way.” Riot ordered as he lifted one arm straight up. Sir E grabbed Twilight’s necklace and outstretched his hand. Applejack held her arms up to block the blow but saw Rarity’s crystal barrier surround her as she felt the tug of a telepathic force pulling her away. Riot’s downward thrust broke straight through the shield and biffed Applejack’s elbow before she was thrown back to the group.

Sir E caught her in his arms as she tightly hugged her injury. “Ah… ah think he… he broke my arm,” Applejack grunted through clenched teeth her right arm shaking uncontrollably, a dark purple bruise started to form on a bend in her arm that was just below her elbow.

“Imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t pulled you out,” said Sir E.

Tirek fumbled pulling out a foot-long blade that extended to three feet in length, glowed green and hummed with energy. With one swing, it sliced through several items either burning or melting them to get through, but somehow it came to a stop in Riots hand. “He’s very unstable when he’s angry like this,” Sir E said while Riot ripped the blade from Tirek’s hand and smashed the handle back into his head, the destroyed blade shattered into pieces flying throughout the room. Tirek’s injury healed quickly, but he knew the effects were wearing off.

Sir E’s head turned toward the group, “We need to come up with a plan and not do anything…”

Rainbow Dash activated her magic and took one step… _okay, I’m just going in grabbing Tirek and getting out._ Two steps… _he may be larger than Bulk Biceps and strong enough to beat Applejack._ Something seemed off by her third step _… but that also means that he’s… looking… at… me._

Four steps… Riots head was now turned toward Rainbow Dash. His gaze seemed to tear a gaping hole into her soul. She saw him beginning to swing his arm, getting ready to attack. Dash realized that she would get seriously injured if she continued forward, so she started her attempt to retreat.

Her fifth step landed on a slick surface, and time slowed nearly to a dead stop considering that it was already reduced. As she fell, Riots hand swept horizontally across barely grazing the tip of her nose, _THAT WAS WAY TOO CLOSE!!_ Rainbow landed on her back, her momentum still sliding her forward as she began to slip between Riots prosthetics.

He was looking straight down at her as his other hand began its descent with a force matching the meteor the that destroyed the dinosaurs. _Well, it seems like this is it for me, I can’t move out of the way, and I don’t stand a chance against his power_. Every detailed second of her life flashed before her eyes, _Goodbye cruel world._

She felt his fingers passing through her hair and detected the impact of his hand on the ground above her head. _He missed!?_ She rolled to her stomach and reached the far wall using her propulsion to rapidly stand up. _THANK EVERY CELESTIAL BEING THAT EXISTS IN EVERY SINGLE UNIVERSE!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I’M STILL ALIVE!!!_ She was next to Tirek now, _grab him and run, grab him and run, GRAB HIM_ , she gripped his coat with all her strength _AND RUN!!_

Riot was already looking her way by the time she took her first step _. GREAT, I have to go around him!_ At this point, Rainbow Dash was purely relying on sheer dumb luck, the will to live, the overdose of adrenaline in her veins, along with bubblegum, shoestrings, and wishing stars to get her to safety.

Despite having a one to one ratio of blood and adrenaline coursing through her, Tirek’s weight slowed her down just enough for Riot to grab his face. _ABORT, ABORT!!_ Rainbow let go of the overbearing weight and ran behind Sir E.

“Foolish!” Sir E finished as Rainbow clenched her heart and gasped in shock, terror, and relief. She fell to the floor, breathing heavily as she placed her other hand on her head. She was pleased to find that Riot was only after Tirek and now that he had him, she was in the clear. “You could have been killed!”

“I… gasp… will not… gasp… doubt that… gasp… for as long… gasp… as I live!!!” Rainbow wheezed. She turned and pointed, “If it wasn’t for that…” she stopped and sniffed her arm, “Is this vomit!? Whatever it is, it saved my life.”

Riot began to repeatedly slam Tirek’s head into the wall causing it to start cracking. “You can tell us about it later,” Sunset said, watching in horror, “We still need to get him out of there.” She remembered watching Princess Celestia cast powerful magic before, but compared to Riot’s influence and demonstration, those spells were as mighty as a spotlight at high noon on a cloudless day.

“What does it feel like Tirek?! To get the short end of the stick and be on the receiving side?! To face the consequences of your own actions for a change?! To be the VICTIM FOR ONCE?!!”

“This is really scary. What happened to make him this angry?” Futtershy asked afraid to hear the answer.

“Unimaginable pain and suffering,” was all Sir E said, desperately looking for an opening.

Riot paused from his onslaught and brought Tirek’s bleeding head closer, “what’s so ironic, is that if it weren’t for monsters like you, I wouldn’t have become the demon I am!” he brought his arm back for another blow, but Sir E put his hand on Riots elbow.

“RIOT! That’s enough, look at him he’s finished.”

“I’m not!” he slammed Tirek into the wall so hard that he was now suspended over a three-story drop. The chin strap of the mangled helmet broke, and Riot alternated hands to clench Tirek’s throat his airway completely cut off, crushing the helmet like a cheap plastic bucket. There were police cars outside watching these events unfold from below.

Tirek slipped something into his mouth and bit down on it. He began to cough as air returned to his lungs, “now you’re in for it,” even Tirek didn’t believe those words, “I was told that this protective barrier could withstand the force of…” He got cut off due to Riot’s grip shattering the forcefield around his body with one hand.

“If I wanted to get higher than 10,156 psi, I would use both hands.”

Out of desperation, Tirek started punching Riot in the face, but it had no effect, and he eventually started to lose consciousness.

“If you let him go, I promise his fate will be worse than death.” Sir E proposed.

As if a light switch was turned off the tension in the air rapidly diminished and then disappeared altogether. “this is precisely why you are here,” he released Tirek and let him fall, he turned away from the hole showing no change to his facial expression, “to make sure I don’t overstep my bounds.”

Tirek survived the fall, barely, and he was transported to the nearest hospital and would later be put behind prison bars once more. Pinkie Pie ‘somehow’ managed to find a medication to rapidly heal Applejacks arm. Rarity began inspecting every inch of Sir E’s outfit and was enthralled by the fact that every fiber was spun and worked on by hand. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw a tear in the sleeve but passed out when he said he had three more outfits to replace this one. Sunset slipped away from the group. The words Riot spoke to Tirek still echoed in her head as she crept closer to him, so she could try to read his mind. “If you wish to regret ever being born, you will continue with your idiocy.” He warned not even turning to face her.

Only slightly surprised that he saw her coming, she walked in front of him. She read the mind of the EMT treating Applejack and knew that the injuries he obtained were worse than the ones on Tirek, but he wasn’t showing it for a second. “It doesn’t take a mind reader to notice that you’re troubled, everyone can see it.” She reached out to put her hand on his, “If you’d like to talk about…” Riot grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully all while avoiding contact with her skin.

“this is your last warning, next time you will beg for death. I know about your ability, and I will not allow anyone to trespass into my memories.” He released her, “Besides, the only relevant thing bothering me, is how Tirek got those weapons, but I think it has something to do with Crystalline perfumes.”

After taking a second to prosses his words, she shook her head then glared as menacingly as she could back at him, “okay look, I’ve done some terrible things myself, case in point I became so power hungry that I attempted to enslave an entire school.”

“How fortunate.”

“The point I’m trying to make is, thanks to the power of friendship, it fixed me, and I changed, and I’m sure you can too,” she reached out once more, “but only if you just…” Riot grabbed her mouth and lifted her to his height.

Her eyes lit up as she saw everything. As she experienced every memory Riot had, he said three words that would challenge and potentially stretch the unbreakable power of friendship past its limit, “friendship… fix… this.” He let her go, and Sunset fell to the floor, she drilled her palms into her skull, threw her head back, and released a bloodcurdling scream as he casually walked away.


	3. the adventure begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> now that everyone who is called to go on a quest is together, they begin their journey to solve a friendship problem. but how will they manage to do that when discord loses his magic before even reaching their destination.

A mirror started to ripple as an orange mare with streaks of red in her mane stumbled out getting used to her new form. “I am so sorry I’m late, I just had to deal with a crazy situation that began with an escaped convict and then exposed an underground organization of… whoa, something tells me this is serious,” Sunset Shimmer examined the big group of the ponies in the room and the 20 symbols that were hovering around a heavily wooded part of the Everfree Forest. “is that where we’re being called to? There’s so many, do any of you know where that is, or how to get there?” She said, pointing out the extensive area the marks made on the map.

Sunburst spoke up, “Actually, I was hoping Starlight would be able to help me out with this one. I’ve been thinking through several possible solutions we could try, but unless anyone here goes into the forest on a daily basis and can navigate through it with their eyes closed, then I’m not seeing any of them working.”

“And it’s not like we can take the table with us either, even then we still wouldn’t…”

“Starlight you’re a GENIUS!!!” Sunburst exclaimed, “come with me Starlight, I need a few materials and books for references.” He said before speeding down the hall.

Starlight watched him bolt out of the room, “Uh okay?” she said before going after him.

Upon their return, they had an excited look in their eyes. Celestia chose to be the one to ask the question they all had, “mind telling us what you were doing?”

Sunburst and Starlight each took their turn answering, “So first, I was trying to figure out how to have the map give directions to someone who knew the area.”

“But since this is the Everfree it’s not really a well-known terrain, even for those familiar with the forest. There was still a good chance for us to get lost that way.”

“And casting a spell like that on something alive would be too risky to attempt, but when Starlight said ‘take the table’ it hit me! What I was trying to do was too complicated and difficult.”

“We’re going to use the same basic concept, but it’s still pretty self-explanatory,”

Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Whoa Whoa whoa wait! Your plan is to drag this table with us on our mission? That has to be one of the top 10 most ridiculous ideas I’ve ever heard of. That thing has to weigh at least a ton, and there’s no way something that big will be able to fit through the trees.”

Starlight answered her question, starting up the alternating cycle again, “Your right, that’s what I was going to tell Sunburst before he had this much better idea.”

“We are going to be taking the map, but not the way you see it here.”

“The map has a connection to the tree of harmony, but most of us already knew that.”

“Although if my theory is correct, then hypothetically speaking, there should be a way for us to connect other inanimate things to the same source, in this case, the tree. Twilight, you mind?”

“Uh sure…” she said hesitantly, recalling the last time a spell was cast on the table.

Starlight and Sunburst approached the map. Starlight’s horn lit up and pulled out a small crystal disk about as big as a mid-sized lens of a magnifying glass while Sunburst walked to the opposite side of where she stood. As he faced her, Sunburst started using his magic. A beam went from his glowing horn to the table then to the disk. When the light faded Starlight examined it before giving a satisfying grin, confirming their success.

“Not quite what I had in mind when I made that spell,” Star Swirl said stroking his beard, “but I did catch a whiff of location magic as well, so I think I know where this is going,”

Sunburst glanced away nervously at Star Swirls compliment, “Yeah I uh had to do some alterations on it, you see if I were to…”

“Ugh! just get to the point already,” Said a very impatient Pink earth pony who somehow managed to fit in Star Swirls beard, something inevitable was about to happen, and a few ponies mentally braced themselves to keep up with it. “we have a mission we need to take care of and cupcakes to eat.”

Pinkie Pie then retreated back into the beard before reappearing over Starlight’s shoulder. Her eyes were focused on the disk, and as predicted, Pinkie began to speak a million words a minute. “So, is this like some kind of teeny friendship table? That sounds smart because then you can carry it around with you wherever you go and not get lost. But wait wouldn’t that mean the marks are smaller too? Wouldn’t that make it even harder to see where we needed to go? I think it would. Gasp, unless you’re looking at a bigger version on a smaller scale or maybe a smaller version of a bigger scale. That would mean we would be able to see if we’re where we need to be or not. But for that to work, we would have to be there to know that. I don’t know how to get there. Can it tell us how to get there? I hope it can because that would nice to know which direction we needed to be going. We are going into the Everfree forest after all, and there’s a lot of things that have to be avoided. Like the endless twists and turns leading to sudden cliffs that appear out of nowhere with a rickety old bridge, or maybe one of many dangerous creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce at us at any given moment. It would need to show us which way we had to go to avoid all of that and get us to our destination safely guiding anypony who uses it to the delicious, mouthwatering cupcakes resting in a pile under a pillar of light. Oooh, I’m calling it a GPS!!”

Somehow managing to hear every word, a look of surprise materialized on Sunset’s face, “Wait a minute, you guys know what a…,” she paused for a moment to think, looking at the pink mare before continuing what she was going to say, “Pinkie, what does GPS stand for here?”

“Uh, ‘Guiding Ponies Safely’ duh, what did you think it meant Sunset?” She said, making it sound like it should have been obvious.

“Well, where I came from there’s… uh, this device that does exactly what you were describing. It means something completely different though, but let’s not go there it would take too long for me to explain it in detail for you to understand. Anyway, it does exactly what you were saying. It’s a map of the world, but you only see a magnified portion showing you your current location. It also shows you which route you can take to get from one place to another. Is that actually a thing here or was that just Pinkie being herself?” Said Sunset not too surprised at what Pinkie managed to do.

Sunburst stood there agape, “That was just Pinkie being herself,” he said before pushing up his glasses and muttered to himself, “I need to run some tests on her to find out how she keeps doing that.” Looking back at the group he spoke louder, “Well, at least you all know how this works now,” the unicorn appeared as though he got cheated out of explaining the most fantastic device ever created, but he wasn’t going to give up. “So, now that we have a hybrid map and compass for directions, shall we head out?”.

“About time,” said Pinkie bouncing her way to the door, “those cupcakes aren’t going to eat themselves you know.”

“Pinkie, I doubt there’s going to be cupcakes where we’re going.” Said Twilight lighting up her horn to levitate the saddlebags Spike was carrying and dispersing them among the group.

“You won’t know until we get there.” Pinkie answered, her singsong voice trailing back into the room.

 

* * *

 

The trees along the forest boundary towered up ahead as the large group approached them. This wasn’t their first time going into the woods, in fact, they’ve gotten used to entering it regularly. But even then, they would go in pairs just to be safe. Or for those confident enough to go alone, they would make sure that someone else knew that they were going in. That way if they didn’t return before nightfall a search party could be arranged for their rescue. This time, however, being called on a friendship mission with four Alicorn Princesses, seasoned fighters from the past and present, along with the most talented scholars Equestria had to offer, the forest seemed to be more haunting than the exaggerated rumors about it.

Once the group stepped into the Everfree, Sunburst pulled out the GPS and started to follow the route it gave him. As time went on, there was a sneaky suspicion that something was wrong about the forest, but nobody could pinpoint what it might be, which only made things more unsettling. Minutes passed before they realized, the only sound they heard came from themselves. It was so deathly still that it was actually frightening, not even the sounds of small woodland animals or insects were heard. The Everfree was never this silent. It was as if they were the only ones occupying the forest. This also put Celestia and Luna on edge, mainly because they recall times where such silence had informed them of impending danger during war eras. Their main concern though, was how it hadn’t jumped out like it usually did, but instead, manage to subtly creep upon them. This, however, didn’t stop the group as they marched on, determined to get their task over with so they could leave these woods. But as they ventured farther, the feeling of dread only increased to frightening proportions.

Sunburst stopped as he began to exchange glances between the GPS and thick foliage. He gave the disk a tap and shook it, but apparently to no avail. “This can’t be right,” he said, examining the device closer, “it’s telling us to go that way.” He pointed his hoof directly into a wall of thick shrubbery.

Without warning, there was a snap as the trees grew legs and stepped aside while the bushes exploded into square bubbles that laughed when they popped. “Shall I pave the road in brick as well?” said discord giving another snap, but nothing happened. “Odd, I wanted a trail made out of soap bars to appear, unless… but, but that’s impossible.”

“Um, guys,” Futtershy whispered inaudibly

“Impossible? You, Discord, are using the word impossible? I thought that word didn’t exist in your vocabulary or plain of existence.” Rainbow Dash taunted.

“guys?” Futtershy tried again but fail.

“Let me inform you,” said Discord taking the defensive approach, “that the only time my magic has ever failed me was when I went to the Changeling hive and Chrysalis’s throne sapped it away. But that can’t be the case, because we all saw it blow up, except for you six artifacts.”

“Um, e… excuse me,” this time, Sunset heard Futtershy trying to speak then she loudly cleared her throat.

“Sorry to interrupt, but the last time I ignored Futtershy I regretted it deeply and promised never to do it again,” she gave a shiver recalling what happened, “long story, and I’d rather not talk about it. Anyway, what are you trying to tell us.”

Futtershy felt uncomfortable by all the eyes suddenly staring at her, “Uh… thanks, I… Um well… It’s just… I, ah, I don’t like the way this fog is surrounding us.” Everyone looked around, and sure enough, a thick wall of haze had surrounded them in every direction, and it seemed to be closing in.

Rainbow face hoofed then asked, “Do you want me to get rid of it for you?”

“Yes, please do… if you don’t mind that is.”

With an exasperated sigh, Rainbow Dash hovered over to the fog and reached out to start her work. But instead of grabbing the mist, her hoofs passed through as if it was only air. “Whoa what the?” She landed just past the fog line, “I went through it like it… wasn’t… e… ven…” she fell to the ground unconscious, landing with a thud.

“Rainbow? Rainbow Dash!” Twilight ran towards her fallen friend but was stopped by a magical shield that materialized around the group.

“Twilight wait,” Celestia said, “something is indeed draining our magic, I may have been able to cast this barrier spell but only just. Believe me, I am as worried about Rainbow Dash as you are, but it won’t do any good if you just run out and put yourself in the same situation.” Celestia looked as if she was having difficulty maintaining the spell. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold this, but right now we have to think of something before…”

“The fog’s coming through!” Trixie shrieked as the mist casually fazed itself past their only defense and into their sanctuary. At that moment Celestia’s spell broke.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash,” Futtershy said sobbing as she curled up into a ball, “It’s all my fault!”

“No sugar cube, Sunset was righ we yall shoulda listened to ya sooner.”

“What are we going to do!” exclaimed Rarity.

Panicking, Twilight cast a teleportation spell out of habit but only managed to produce a few sparks. There was no magic and no visible exit. “Stick together, we don’t know how far this mist goes, and running through it blindly could only get us lost or worse. If we’re lucky, maybe it will leave as fast as it appeared, until then just hold your breath.”

“Brace yourselves!” said Rockhoof as everyone took one last deep breath before the tidal wave of vapor engulfed them.

The air felt warm and relaxing, coaxing them to breathe. ‘Don’t worry,’ it seemed to say, ‘everything will be fine, you’ll be safe.’ The best spa treatment Twilight has ever received felt nothing like this, but she knew the consequences of taking even one breath. One by one she heard ponies giving in to the temptation promised with the sounds of their bodies hitting the ground after gasping for air. _Come on just, leave already!_ She desperately thought. The silhouette of Flash Magnus went skyward in an attempt to fly above the vapor. But a sudden thud from above told her that he hit a tree branch. Rockhoof’s large form took a dive to catch the pegasus as he came down, knocking the wind out of both of them. Rarity’s face began to change into colors that made Twilight subconsciously make a mental note to examine and name later before she wondered if it was from her own lack of oxygen. _This can’t be happening_. Twilight saw Rarity pass out from holding her breath too long leaving only her, Celestia, Starlight Glimmer, and Cadence who was on the ground… and pointing? Twilight looked in the direction she was indicating just as Cadence exhaled. Even though her vision was starting to blur, she saw Rainbow Dash being dragged away.

“AH, somethings got…me” Starlight jumped back then collapsed.

Twilight watched more of the group being taken away one by one, but when she looked at Starlight, she saw what was happening. _I don’t understand_. Silver web-like strands wove their way around her body, tying her up in some kind of net. Celestia gasped for air moments before Twilight did the same. The feeling of drowsiness was far stronger than the relaxation the mist provided, even the impact of hitting the ground was blissful. She couldn’t move, she didn’t want to move, she just laid there feeling the heavenly enticing threads gently caress through her fur. _I thought friendship could solve anything. Why did it have to end like this?_ The last thing she felt was her body being dragged away before everything faded to nothing.

 

* * *

 

“Of course it’s boring here now, but at least you’re not in a cage!” Tirek exclaimed when he heard Cerberus whining. Just then, he felt an outside source of magic making its way into Tartarus. A portal opened up, and Princess Luna along with two royal guards came through escorting a young pegasus filly who Tirek knew all too well. No words were exchanged as they proceeded to put her in the cage right next to his and leaving just as quickly.

When the portal closed Cozy Glow, the new inmate, turned to Tirek and grinned, “Hey neighbor, want to be friends?” Her face did everything except matching the words coming out of her mouth.

“After the fiasco you caused, why should I even consider beating you with a TEN FOOT POLE!!” Tirek answered outraged, “I have half a mind to obliterate you the next time I break out, I’ve done it once I’ll do it again, the other half is wanting to leave you here to rot once I escape without your help!”

“Oh, don’t worry, that opportunity will happen sooner than you think because I have a one-way ticket out of here.”

“Oh please, do tell.” Said Tirek with a scoff turning away from her, folding his arms.

“I don’t blame you for not believing me. This plan was pretty intricate after all. But we couldn’t risk you knowing what the real plan was or else the ponies could have gotten information out of you and that would have only made things even more tricky. But why tell you, when I can show you?”

That was enough to pique his interest in what she was saying. He turned around and saw her straining in some form of concentration. Her mouth opened up, and her stomach congested as if she had swallowed something and was now bringing it back up. Her eyes bugged out as he saw an object making its way to her mouth then stopped. Cozy Glow looked like she was choking on whatever she was trying to retrieve.

The centaur became fearful, mainly because if Cozy Glow did indeed have a way out of Tartarus, Tirek didn’t want it to be just mere inches away, stuck in the throat of a dead pegasus filly. With a cough, the object was hurtled across the cavern followed by the sound of something shattering against the wall. With a look of panic, Tirek stared in the direction it flew and saw black liquid begin to drip down from the point of impact, “Did you just… _break_ … your own escape plan?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, _here he comes_ ,” she said, giving her best smile ending with a sing-song voice, before starting to giggle maliciously, rubbing her hooves together. When Tirek looked back at the liquid on the wall, he saw it oozing down, sideways, and up. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the dark stain wriggling and contorting like a liquid as if the shadows were swimming with life. Cerberus growled in the direction of the flowing darkness, Tirek could also feel the presence of a powerful being coming through the dark void. A large foreboding silhouette emerged from within the liquid wall and began to approach Tirek and Cozy Glow who was now on the verge of hysteric laughter.

Cerberus gave another more menacing snarl towards the intruder getting ready to attack. “SIT,” the figure commanded in a volcanic voice that seemed to emanate from all directions. Within an instant, the fierce guard dog became a whimpering coward that began to slink back into a corner. Tirek found himself backing away as well when he hit the bars on the far end of his cell. “Um… so, ah, hehe, who might you be exactly?” He said with a nervous chuckle and a sheepish grin as he gazed up at the towering figure. Cozy Glow exploded in a fit of uncontrollable laughter when she heard this rolling on her back and kicking her feet in the air. “I don’t understand how you find any of this remotely funny.”

“OH… OH HO HO, tha… that’s because AH HA HA HA HA that’s because this plan… this plan was so… so obvious from the very beginning AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” out of nowhere she slammed herself against the bars with a look of hatred making the centaur jump away from her “AND NOBODY SAW IT COMING!!,” she blurted out with a gurgling raspy voice, “NOBODY!!! Pff… pff HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” she fell back to the ground clutching her sides in pain pounding the ground with her hooves, “Oh you shou… you should see the look on your face AHA HA HAAAA!!! _So… Much… FEAR!!!_ HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

 _What is happening?_ Tirek thought, exchanging glances from the bright, frilly, curly cue, goody two shoe filly to the dark, ominous, foreboding, and demonic entity and back, _how can these two possibly have any kind of relationship?_

The sound of twisting metal could be heard as the centaur’s cage, and Cozy Glow’s somehow turned into a mangled heap, despite all of the cells in Tartarus having magic nulling property. She instantly stopped her fit of laughter as she took flight towards the being, who tossed an orb of extremely potent magic at Tirek. “If I were you, I’d do as he says,” Cozy Glow demanded before using an overdramatic emphasis in her words and actions. “Oh Retribution, I honestly had no idea just how generous you truly were. Here I am, a poor, helpless, damsel in distress, and just like that, here you are. Coming to my rescue like the dashing, honorable, and noble knight you are in your bright and shining armor. Oh, such loyalty.” Tirek wanted to barf, but he couldn’t tell if she was mock acting or being serious as he watched the filly nuzzled the creature named Retribution, before smacking a kiss on his cheek, it couldn’t have possibly looked any more displeased. “I must be the luckiest girl in the whole wide world to have such a kind hearted, loving, thoughtful, and caring friend like Gah!…” Without any kind of warning, Retribution used lightning quick reflexes to punch the pegasus so hard that she was instantly vaporized into nothing more than a dark red stain on the ground, walls, and the now outstretched limb.

The centaur gulped, realizing just how careful he had to be if he was going to escape with a monster who treated his ‘friends’ in this manner. _Now that I think about it, maybe being trapped here with Twilight and her five annoying nuisances for all eternity isn’t so bad after all, then again…_ he looked at the orb and smiled before swallowing it. The power he felt coursing through his body now made him stand taller than Retribution. “You should have waited until after conditions were made. I propose a new plan, I crush you now and leave you here, that way you won’t get in my way later.” If Retribution was even half as powerful as he appeared to be, the amount of magic within him had to be astronomical. Tirek began to siphon what he could before anything else happened.

“WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT.” Retribution said calmly.

Tirek ceased his attempt when he came up empty, “you have no magic?!”

“IF YOU STILL WISH TO CHALLENGE MY AUTHORITY, THEN BY ALL MEANS, YOU ATTACK FIRST.”

“Can this possibly get any easier!?” said Tirek releasing a beam of pure magic.

 

* * *

 

 _Ow_ , that was the first thing that Twilight thought as she began to stir. Her entire body was stiff and sore, aching as if it hadn’t moved for days. Her horn felt like it was about to explode, and the pounding headache it came with was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She could almost hear her eyelids creaking and cracking when they opened in even more discomfort, crusty flakes trying to keep them shut. Every movement she made trying to stand only hurt more than the previous one.

“Soooo muuuuuch paaaaaaaiin,” said a weak voice that sounded like a deflating Pinkie Pie. Just hearing her talk was more than enough to make Twilight instantly thirsty. Every word grew quieter when she spoke again. “My throat feels like a dry washcloth… must… have… waaaaaterrrrrr!”

“I didn’t know hooves could throb like this,” Rarity said wincing afterward, “or teeth.”

“We feel as if we were stuffed into the average sized milk bottle,” Luna commented.

“If this is how you guys felt after I cast that brainwash spell on you, I will apologize ten… no twenty-fold.” Everyone could hear Starlight’s entire body creak and pop more than Granny Smith on a bad day as she began to arise.

“You know,” Rainbow Dash said groggily in a raspier voice than usual, “this does feel just like that. Wait, something’s different. Oh, that’s right, when we were under that spell you didn’t order us to jump off the world’s biggest Celestia forsaken cliff, smash our head into every stinking rock on our way down, climb back up it, fight our way through Tartarus and back, and then jump off the cliff again… In one freakn’ afternoon!” She began to cough and tried to inhale past the pain in her torso. “Can any of you check to see if my wings are still attached, I can’t move my head.”

“Ah might be the closest to ya, but from this angle, ah can’t tell,” Applejack answered, “There’s cider, there’s too much cider, then there’s this. Seriously ah feel like ah survived a stampede a buffalo after tryn’ ta do apple buckn’ season on my own agin. If yall don’t mind, could somepony that can actually stand help me up, mah legs ain't listenen to a thing I tell em.”

“Oi, this must be what a wee stick of chewing gum feels like after a few hours in the maw of the beast,” Rockhoof stated.

“I’ll do… what I… can to… help but… I would… work much… better … if my … head would… stop poun… ding.” Mistmane said wincing rhythmically as she walked in that direction. With every pause she made, everyone could feel her pain as if it were their own.

“Okay rollcall, is anypony missing,” Cadence spoke up, sounding just as bad as everyone else felt, “Twilight?”

“Here.”

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Can I call in sick?”

“That’s a yes, okay Rarity?”

“Present.”

“Applejack,”

“Ten more minutes.”

“Pinkie Pie”

The pink pony wheezed and raised a shaky hoof.

“Good enough, Futtershy? Futtershy!” no answer came.

“She’s over here,” Somnambula announced limping out from the bushes caring a motionless Futtershy on her back.

“Is she alright?” Celestia asked Meadowbrook and Mistmane hobbled over to examine her.

“Good news is, she’s still breathing. Unfortunately, I can’t… wait a moment,” Meadowbrook leaned in closer to Futtershy’s mouth. “She said, ‘don’t worry about me, take care of everyone else first.’ I think she’ll be fine.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, that’s Somnambula, Mistmane, and Meadowbrook. Rockhoof?”

“Obviously not me best day but I’m still Kickn’… barely.”

“Flash Magnus?”

“If someone said my name, can you please speak up, my ears are still ringing.”

“Star Swirl?”

“Over here!” they heard Sunburst say a fair distance away in the direction Somnambula came from.

“Would one of you be so kind as to please check and see if my back is broken or not.” Pleaded Star Swirl as he and the Orange Unicorn Stallion emerged.

“Okay, that leaves Celestia, Luna, myself, and then there’s…”

“My my what is this I see? eighteen ponies crying out in agony?”

“Zecora?” exclaimed Twilight as loud as she dared, “You have no idea just how releveled we are to see you here, you wouldn’t happen to have a potion on you that can treat aches and pains would you?”

“If you don’t mind, can you tell me what kind?”

Pinkie Pie, with all the strength she could muster, grabbed the zebra’s earrings and pulled her head down, wheezing one word that summed up their descriptions, “EEEEEEEVERYYYYYYYTHIIIIIIIIING.”

Zecora pushed Pinkie back then said, “I’ll check my bag and see what I have there. If I do, it won’t be much, so you will all have to share.”

“If only you knew,” Sunset said out of nowhere, “at this point, anything helps as…” realization seemed to dawn on her face, “you said eighteen ponies. Who’s missing, where Discord?”

“There you are you can’t hide from me,” Zecora said pulling a large flask out of her satchel, “here take a sip of this remedy,” Pinkie was the first to start guzzling down the fluid inside. Rarity tackled her to prevent the formula from disappearing altogether. She greedily took a mouth full or two, as Pinkie spat out the cork, only to stop herself and passed it around before it became too tempting to resist another swallow.

After Rainbow Dash had her share, she smacked her lips and said, “If I had to guess he probably baled on us and went home or something.” She was already sounding and feeling better. The pain was still noticeable, but at least she could move her head, and her wings didn’t feel as if they were wrenched out of their sockets and torn off her body. “I mean, he disappears all the time. That’s like his thing you know, nothing new there, right?”

Starlight returned the now empty bottle to Zecora. “That does make sense, but… Hold on where’s Trixie!? TRIXIE!!” The next few minutes were spent searching the area, but there were no signs of the blue unicorn anywhere. “For Discord to be gone is one thing, but Trixie? Something is definitely wrong.”

“Have you already forgotten the fact that a fog which seemingly appeared out of nowhere knocked us out and made us wake up with the worst imaginable headache we will ever experience.” Rarity replied. “not to mention all of the strange things that have happened over the past few days. If you ask me, this is even worse than when Cozy Glow tried to trap us in Tartarus with Tirek. At least then we had something to go off of, but I’m at a complete loss for what’s happening now.”

“We have another problem,” Sunburst said with great concern in his voice, “I can’t find the GPS anywhere.”

“Oh, that’s just great! How are we supposed to find our way out of here now!” Rainbow Dash cried out. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I guarantee that we are not in the same place we were when the fog jumped us, on top of that the sun is a lot lower in the sky meaning it’s late afternoon. If anything, I think we should call it a day and keep looking for Trixie tomorrow. At least then we can get our bearing’s giving us a better chance of finding her.”

“As much as it pains me to say it, I think Rainbow Dash has a point,” Twilight said hesitantly, “to be honest, the thought of leaving her alone at night in the Everfree Forest is disconcerting due to current circumstances. But let’s face it, we’re obviously all exhausted.” She was right, despite just waking up they felt like they hadn’t slept for a week.

“And just to put the icing on the cake,” Celestia spoke up, “my magic seems to be very low. I am regaining it as we speak, but it isn’t enough for even the simplest of spells.”

“Zacora you wouldn’t mind letting us sleep at your hut would you. It would just be for tonight then we’ll be out of your mane.”

“Uh…um,” a concerned look crossed the Zebras face as her eyes darted around, “I uh, see the dilemma that you currently face, but my hut is too small for you to stay at my place.” She gave a grin that looked slightly nervous.

“You’re right, sorry I even bothered asking,” Twilight apologized, now realizing it was stupid to even consider, “Although, could you at least guide out of here? like we said before we don’t even know where we’re at.”

The zebra nodded, “of course I can, you see that hill, following that path will lead you to Ponyville.”

“Thank you. We’ll come back tomorrow.” Starlight said, “Oh and if you see Trixie or Discord can you let us know… in the morning if it’s not too much trouble for you that is.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll let you know, it’s getting darker, so you’d better go.”

“Again thanks, talk to you later,” Twilight said, waving goodbye as the group began their march out of the forest.

“WAIT!!!” it had only been five minutes before Zecora came running towards them, “sorry to come back in such a huff, but I believe you left behind some of your stuff.” She held an odd-looking saddlebag that somehow seemed familiar, but none of them recognized it.

Sunburst looked inside and found a book with a gem on the cover “Oh, my journal!” Twilight exclaimed, “I don’t know what it’s doing in this bag though, thanks.”

“Anytime, now take care,” Zacora said, taking off and waving goodbye once more. “And good luck,” She said under her breath as soon as she was far enough away to disappear unnoticed in a green flame.


	4. unforeseen inconveniences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ponies finally get some answers as to what's going on, but Discord helps them straighten it out more with the little information he's able to provide. A choice must be made but will they make the right one when the time comes?

The group was surprised to find themselves so close to the edge of the forest. Not even ten minutes had passed from the time Zacora returned the strange bag to them before they could see the building through the trees. “So near, and yet so far away,” said Pinkie collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

“Ugh, what in Celestia’s name did that fog do to us,” complained Rainbow dash. “Right now, I’m too tired to even flap my wings, and I’ve _never_ been too tired to fly.”

“I think I have enough magic to teleport everypony to Twilights castle,” Celestia said thoughtfully, “but we’ll have to…”

“Please! I beg you, just teleport us the rest of the way.” Pleaded Rainbow dash hugging the princess’s foreleg. The Rest of the group joined in her request some more hesitant than others not wanting to ask too much of the Alicorn ruler.

With a sigh, Celestia obliged to their wishes, “Okay, but from there, I won’t be able to cast it again for a while.” And with that, the group was engulfed in her magical aura, and with a quick pinch, they were in the guest room of the castle of friendship.

“WAH!” spike jumped out of the room from the sudden appearance of the 18 ponies. “where have you guys… whoa. You all exhausted, and terrible, what happened?” Twilight was about to answer her assistants’ question but was interrupted. “hold that thought for a moment there’s way more import…”

The doors to the castle were slammed open “ ** _DRAGON!!!!_** ” bellowed a furious voice.

“GAH, Zacora!” spike stood petrified in the hallway watching the fuming zebra storm in his direction.

“You better say your friends are all back, or I mark my words you’ll be the FIRST I ATTACK!!” Spike was on his back as all he could do was let the enraged mare shoved her face into his, screaming at the top of her lungs.

This sudden turn of events eradicated most of the exhaustion from all the newly returned ponies. “Zacora?! What’s going on. What’s wrong?” Twilight asked just as confused as everypony else.

“It’s about time you return to your castle, trying to contact you has been a great hassle!”

“Zacora, we just spoke to you in the Everfree like no more than a half hour ago actually,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, you even showed us the way out.” Pinkie spoke up, “If there was something so important to tell us, why wait until later? Unless that something happened between then and now, because something is always happening, but that still wouldn’t make sense because even if that were true how could you beat us back to the castle, I mean even I couldn’t pull that off.” The pink earth pony put her hooves to her head, “Oh, my heads starting to hurt again.”

Now it was Zacora’s turn to be confused, “you claim we spoke? That cannot be! It’s been days since I’ve stepped into the Everfree.”

“Yall thinken what Ahm thinken.”

“Chrysalis,” Everypony said blatantly except for the Pillars and Sunset.

“ugh…” Twilight could feel the fatigue returning as she rubbed her eyes with her hooves, “Sorry, but can this wait till tomorrow? We’re completely drained after our trip into the Everfree, and we didn’t even get…”

“NO! I refused to be pushed away. I’ve waited for your return day after day!”

“Day after…? We just left this morning to go on our friendship quest, when have you…”

“This morning?” Spike interrupted, “Twilight that was two weeks ago.”

“TWO WEEKS!!” Everypony exclaimed, Twilight grabbed the first newspaper she saw in her magic and looked at the date, “he’s right! It’s been two whole weeks.”

“My farm! My family!”

“My animals!”

“My party plans!”

“My reputation!” said Rarity and Rainbow Dash making all eyes turn towards them. both mares started to throw out their reasons why they said what they did and why it was better than the other.

“I have to stay in tip-top shape to maintain my Wonderbolts position.”

“I have to stay ahead of the fashion scenes to keep my customers impressed.”

“If I’m even two seconds late, the entire squad gets penalized for it. I can’t even imagine what two weeks of going AWL will do to me. I’ll be lucky if I get only get court-martialed.”

“If I don’t make sufficient sells then I won’t have enough bits to support my sister and I…, my sister… AHH!!! Sweetie Bell!!! Don’t tell me she’s been alone all this time. I do hope she’s doing fine. No, I hope she hasn’t…”

“ENOUGH!” Twilight exploded then wilted. “It’s obvious that we all have important issues to take care of right now, but I don’t think any of us are in any condition to do anything until after a short nap.”

“Wait, Flurry Heart I left her with Shining. I have to go…” Cadence yawned cutting off the rest of what she wanted to say.

“Even when everypony returns, you still refuse to listen to my concerns.”

At that moment, a thought crossed Starlight’s mind that made her blood run cold. “Um, Zacora, do you have a remedy for aches and pains?” That question echoed throughout the room as the realization of what she was really implying dawned on everyone except the zebra and the dragon.

“My patience is starting to wear thin, and now you’re complaining about…”

“Tell us something only the real Zacora would know,” Twilight said dreading that she actually would.

With all eyes now on Zacora, she noticed the look of dread in their expression, not accusations. This made her take a deep breath to calm down, then she spoke, “I use to feared by the Ponyville folk, but that was before you six stepped into poison joke.” Everyone’s fears were now confirmed.

“Oh, dear, this is bad. This is very, very bad.” Said Rarity before she started to hyperventilate.

Spike and Zacora looked at them quizzically, “Uh, don’t you mean that’s a good thing?”

“If by, ‘a good thing,’ means that all of us drank a mystery liquid given to us by a villain whose mind is bent on eliminating us at all cost, then yeah everything is perfectly fine.” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, “For all we know, that could have been poison (yawn) So sleepy.”

Zecora’s gaze drifted to the bag on Twilights back as it moved back to its original position, “That bag, was it given to you by my double?” She asked.

Twilight looked at it, forgetting it was even there. “Uh, yes, why?”

“Because I have a sneaky suspicion,” the bag rose up on its own without the use of magic, “that there will soon be trouble.”

The bag turned itself upside down and spat out the book it had inside. Upon closer inspection, the two mismatched buttons now looked like more like eyes which then emphasized the rest of the facial features of the missing draconequus. “Discord? Why are disguised as a saddlebag?”

“Actually, I’m more bag than Discord if it’s hard to believe.” A leather strap shot out like a tongue and wrapped around everyone in the room, including Spike and Zacora. Next thing they knew they were all swallowed into the impossibly large insides of the bag where the lord of chaos sat upon a throne. “Unfortunately, I can’t allow any of you to leave.”

“Discord!” Celestia said before yawning, “what is the meaning of this?”

“I was hoping to let you have more fun listening to Zacora rhyme, but alas I’m sorry to say this is no longer playtime.”

“Guys, discord rhymed twice,” Futtershy said in a worried tone, “he’s not joking around.”

“Thank you, Futtershy now hopefully that will be enough for all of you to take my word’s more seriously. Because what I have to tell you is very important, so listen carefully.” Discord’s stern face fell as he saw how his fellow group members were barely able to keep their eyes open, let alone stand. With an annoyed snort, he snapped his paw, and everyone regained their liveliness, no longer exhausted. “There, feel better? Perhaps now you can at least pay attention to what you need to do to free me along with the Great and Infuriating Trickster as well as a few others.”

“Waitwaitwaitwait.” Rainbow Dash flew up to confront Discord, “Just so we’re clear, are you evil again or not?”

“Haven’t you been listening, I’m not Discord, just a reconstruction created from nothing more than my magical residue with a time limit mind you. The real me is practically being held against my will, even though my prison is more than what even I could ask for, I would rather become another lawn ornament for another millennium than spend another second in this nightmare of a paradise.”

“Okay, so Trixie is with you.” Starlight paused for a moment putting the pieces together. “Wait how are you trapped exactly, and by who, and how does Chrysalis fit in all this?”

“Again, time limit, in any case, she was one of the ‘others’ I mentioned, along with Iron Will, Tirek, a Chimera as well as most of the other monsters that were kept in Tartarus, Dr. Caballeron and Ahuizotal. I would include Sombra, but he’s not really capable of leaving, he’s more like an accessory that comes with the place rather than an actual individual. Oh, right, there’s also The Pony of Shadows, Nightmare moon, Daybreaker, Flutter-Bat, some Sirens and Wendigos, two she-demons, the Storm King and a Harpy along with a mad pony called Cerebral Cortex, but don’t mind them, they're more like an elite group of devoted followers then prisoners such as yours truly.”

It took a moment for Discord’s words to sink in. They could not believe what they were hearing. Just about every notorious villain they’ve fought and then some were now under the command of a being that had enough power to trap a Draconequus.

“Oh no, nu uh, one evil villain is plenty for us to try and take care of,” Rainbow said for all of them, “but you’re telling us that we’re up against an entire army of them! How is that even… Hold it, if Nightmare Moon is there does that mean…”

“That is the real Luna,” Discord reassured them, “The one behind all of this is called.” Discord gave a shiver of fear, “Retribution. Somehow, he managed to pull out the darker side of Princess Moony butt much like removing a weed. Wow, that didn’t roll off the tongue like I had hoped it would.” As he said that his tongue extended out of his mouth as Luna’s cutie mark rolled out before he flicked it back to its rightful place. “As for me, I lost a bet against him in a game of nonsense and logic, and now I’m stuck here as one of his minion slash _pets_. But I don’t blame you for not recalling any of this, that memory mist is quite effective. The only reason I remember most of what’s happened is because I’m not me just a magical reconfiguration which is running low, and from the time I saw on Twilight’s clock we have less than fifteen minutes to…”

“Which clock? The one that’s ten minutes behind,” Spike said grabbing everyone’s attention, “Yeah, I was about to readjust it to the right time but then you guys teleported in and I never got around to it.”

“Th... Then… Then that means,” Discord looked at a ridiculously big pocket watch, “Holy smokes! We have less than five minutes!”

Back in the castle’s guestroom, the saddlebag spat out everyone and began giving orders. “Twilight, quick, grab the book that I was carrying and remove the paper connected to the back of the front cover.” As she did so, Discord turned to give another order but grimaced when he heard the paper being torn.

“Twilight,” he said calmly, “I don’t blame you for not remembering so please don’t take this personally.” Twilight was yanked off the ground and shook like a rag doll. “YOU’VE JUST DESTROYED OUR ONLY ESCAPE PLAN!!!”

A breeze started to fill the room as the bag continued to express its frustration, “We spend days almost a week planning this out, and you had to rip it?! The plan was on the paper you needed to remove, not under it.” The wind was getting more and more fierce as discord continued, “I was this close to achieving my freedom, THIS CLOSE!! But _someone_ had to ruin it, and now I may as well be trapped here for the rest of eternity!!”

A bright light started to shine, but discord didn’t seem to notice. “After all that hard work it’s now gone, GONE!! down the drain!” the light abruptly ended, and a lavender pony sat in the middle of a scorched crater, “We had one shot at this Twilight! One… shot.?”

“Make that two.” Everyone stared in bewilderment at the second Twilight that appeared in the room. The original Twilight was about to say something, but the newly arrived alicorn shoved her hoof into her mouth. “Don’t forget what happened last time I came from the future, it did not end well, because you didn’t… I didn’t listen to me. SPIKE! Grab as many quills and parchment as you can carry. Everypony, start taking as many notes as you can when you can for as long as I’m here. This is my last-ditch effort to correct my previous mistake, and those notes are the only thing I have to go off of. You, book, now! Discord twenty-five seconds!” The future Twilight took six quills in her magic and began to write with all of them on a blank parchment, once she was done it was passed over to the original Twilight then she said, “I’m going to need you… me, Star Swirl, Cadence, Luna, Celestia, Starlight, Sunburst, and Sunset to cast this spell in the next fifteen seconds.”

“Wait,” Sunset interjected not having used magic in years, “I can’t…”

“You can, I watched you do it a week ago, you got this,” Next she took the book and carefully removed the paper connected to the back cover without tearing it.

Star Swirl furrowed his brow, “This looks too complicated for…”

“Ponies who haven’t practiced it over and over for days on end like you all have, now be ready to cast it in five, four, three, two, ONE!” Discord’s apparition created a rift in space, creating a portal in front of a row of books. The spell was cast, it felt natural, practiced, as easy as breathing as eight beams of light enter into it. Future Twilight cast a separate spell and brought the light back through and into a pile of blank papers. The portal closed, and the magic was disrupted, and the saddle bag was once more just a bag. Everyone looked at what Twilight held in her aura. It was the journal that looked like the one Discord gave them.

“We went through all that trouble…?” Rainbow said with annoyance, “just so we can get the exact same book that we already had!?”

“Not quite,” said future Twilight opening it up, showing them the inside filled with writing from cover to cover. “This was just an experiment to try and retrieve an object from the other side of the mirror realm. The book will explain that in detail. Anyway, this turned out to be a failure, and we only managed to copy what was on the other side, not transfer.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Starlight said, but future Twilight answered before she got the chance.

“Retribution was able to pull Nightmare Moon out of Luna and Flutter-bat out of Futtershy you think he wouldn’t be able to recover Star Swirl’s time spell from…” She started glowing and releasing energy, indicating that her time was almost up. “Ugh, if only I had more time. One last thing before I leave, Retribution _will_ come. And when he does, none of us will see it coming until it’s too late. You just have to hang in there and stay strong…” with a flash Twilight was forced back to her time.

“Am I the only one that feels like that last part wasn’t quite finished and intended for just one of us or is that just me?” Questioned Pinkie.

“I felt it too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true,” Twilight said after covering a yawn feeling the draconequus's magic leave her almost as tired as when she went into the memory mist. “Sweet Celestia! How many times are we going to… Zecora, I’m going to close my eyes for a few moments, and when I wake up, I promise that we will all give you our undivided attention okay? Okay.” And with that Twilight collapsed on the spot along with everyone else that went with her on the friendship quest besides Celesta and Luna who unfortunately had one last job to take care of before calling it a day.

Luna teleported Celestia and herself back to Canterlot castle, upon their arrival one of their secretaries, Steady Quill, looked up from her work. The two sisters began to go up to the highest balcony the castle could provide and proceeded to lower the sun and rise the moon, but Steady intervened, “Oh, your highnesses, you’re back, are you ready to start the preparations for…”

“Steady Quill, please, not now,” Celestia said with a yawn, “I think Luna and I are going to take a few days off,”

Steady Quill sighed, “Oh good, I’m relieved to hear you say that.”

The two sisters were expecting a lot of things, but the neutral tone of their staff wasn’t one of them, “And I’m concerned to hear you say that. How come you’re relieved after our extended absence?”

“You two have been doing weeks of work every day for the past week and a half. It’s a wonder you haven’t dropped dead of exhaustion. I mean, you’re over two months ahead of schedule with just about everything except the meeting with the Griffins next week and… actually, now that I’m getting a better look at you, you’re both looking a bit…” Celestia and Luna didn’t wait around to hear her finish, with one last push of energy, they ascended the stairway and reached the balcony.

“Sister,” Luna said, “I don’t know If I can say awake much longer, I propose to discuss this matter in the dream realm, what say you?”

Celestia finished lowering the sun then turned to face Luna to answer, “I agree, but perhaps tomorrow night. I know how tiring it is to be in that place after just one day and right now, we are in no condition to discuss any matter big or small, so for now, sister, get some rest. There is a lot we need to catch up on.” Celestia fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes.

Luna, as exhausted as she was, entered the dream realm despite her older sisters wishes. Usually, this left the younger sister drained due to the fact she wasn’t really asleep, but this time was much different, she felt more energized than ever feeling like she could do anything and more. Under normal circumstances, this would have concerned her, but after everything they’ve just gone through, she was merely surprised. “This is strangely unexpected,” she stood on her hindquarters, expertly kicked the air in front of her with her forehooves a few times and ended in a roundhouse kick. Once she was finished, Luna landed back on all fours and stood there for a moment wondering what the purpose in doing all of that was, “That felt too natural for it to be a coincidence.” Luna had more important business to take care of, and she intended to do it before sunrise.

Luna found Celestia’s door in no time, upon her approach, the alicorn felt the strong pull of a nightmare escalated to the point where it would lead to devastating mental damage for the pony having it. Luna bolted to where the dream was occurring and entered.


	5. Progress at Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The villains finally make their appearance as Luna learns that even the Dream Relm holds no safety to the new enemy they're up against. And after the Canterlot Castle is attacked, it appears there are friends that they can rely on. Or perhaps at this point, they are just desperately accepting anyone to aid them against the impossible enemy.

“NO! Applejack come back!” no matter how hard Apple Bloom ran, her sisters slow paced steps put her farther and farther away. “Ah don’t want ya ta leave!”

The orange mare was becoming a speck in the distance, but when she spoke it was as if she were right by her side “Ahm sorry Apple Bloom,” she said not turning towards her sister, “but ah can’t stay here anymore, it’s for the best.”

“NO! We need you, APPLEJACK!!!”

“Apple Bloom, this is only a dream,” Luna said, flying right next to her to keep up, “everything you see here isn’t real.”

Apple bloom screeched to a stop, “Princess Luna?” the scenery changed to a void of nothingness with lights floating in the background. “Thank Celestia you’re here, ever since mah sister came back from the friendship quest a few days ago she’s been gettin’ more and more distant from her own family. Her family!”

“Slow down, please. Let’s start from the beginning. You’re saying Applejack returned prior to this morning, how long ago was that, please this is very important.”

The yellow filly thought for a moment, “Uh… a day or so after yall left on your mission, why?”

“Was she alone when she returned or was anypony else with her?”

“Everypony was with her. What are ya gettin’ at?”

“I have reason to believe that all who participated in that mission two weeks ago was replaced by someone or something.”

“Changelings!?” Apple Bloom exclaimed with surprise.

“No… Maybe, I can’t say for sure but let me show you something.” Luna cast a spell to open the door back into the dream realm as to take her to her sisters’ dream, but the door that appeared was not the exit to Apple Bloom’s dream, but the entrance to Applejack’s. “That’s never happened before.”

“What’s never happened?”

“Later, right now, I believe someone is eager to meet you.”

 “How could I let this happen?” Tears streamed down Applejack cheeks as she sat in front of the archway leading to Sweet Apple Acers, but instead of lush green apple trees as far as the eye could see everything was a shriveled-up wasteland with the main house and barn looking as if it was abandoned years ago.

“I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!” she started punching the ground, “I never shoulda left em alone.” She looked back up to see a gravestone with the name Granny Smith. She backed away only to hit another one, the name being Apple Bloom, Big Mac’s grave was next to hers’. “No…No ahm sorry, ah…” looking back at the trees, she saw that they were all replaced with tombstones each with a name of a Ponyville resident. “why… How could ah… This is all mah fault, ah should have done more, now everyone had ta suffer because of it.” She set herself between her siblings’ graves, suddenly a tombstone with her name on it came out of the ground where she sat, and a forehoof rose out of her sister’s grave. “No please, ah did everything ah could! Ah was just in the wrong…” Apple Bloom continued to pull herself up from beyond the dead, as a darker hoof came from Big Mac’s “Ahm sorry, Ahm the one who…”

“Applejack calm down,” Apple Bloom said, pulling her head above the ground looking very much normal and not like a rotting corpse as Luna emerged from her brother’s grave. “This is just a dream.”

“A… a dream?”

“Yes, and there is something else that you must know as well, Apple Bloom?”

“Luna thinks that yall might ta been replaced while you were on your quest.”

“Replaced?!” Applejack said now sounding irritated, “what makes you so sure?”

“AJ you’ve been actn’ strange all week. Yesterday ya said that ya had ta go away for a while. Ah was just hav’n a nightmare of ya leaving and never comin’ back no matter how fast ah ran towards ya.”

Applejack exhaled a long breath, “When ah find whoever thought they could take mah place, hurt mah family like that!” She grunted with anger in her voice, her eyes were dead set on revenge as her mane was set ablaze, “Ah will buck them THROUGH THE MOON!!!” with her mane back to normal she locked eyes with Luna, “Luna, bring everypony into one dream like you did that one time.”

“uh, Applejack,” The alicorn said backing away slightly.

“Do it! Ah intend to get to the bottom of this once and for all!”

“Ah think you’re right Luna, someone did replace AJ. Ah’ve seen her mad before but nowhere near anythin' like this.”

“What are ya waitn’ for, open the door to the dream whatever so we yall can figure out what the hay has been happen’ here!”

“Okay, but only after we get Celestia first,”

“Makes no difference to me, now open that door!”

Luna brought up Celestia dream and started to open it, _I usually have to pass through the dream realm I could get use to traveling like this._

“Luna?” Celestia said on the other side, “What is the meaning of…”

“Ahm afraid Ah can’t allow that, well not yet at least.” A calm voice sounding like AJ’s spoke from behind. Everyone turned to see who it was finding another Applejack standing behind the tombstone with her name on it.

“Applejack, this is just a dream.”

“Now ya see, Princess, that’s where you’re wrong.” The other Applejack lifted her hoof and swiftly waved it once to the side. The door Luna summoned slammed shut and was obliterated. “Would ya call a thousand years of banishment just a dream? How about every thought ya had of what you would do to your sister when ya returned?” the more she spoke, the less it sounded like AJ and more like a multitude of voices trying to imitate her.

“Can it copycat!” AJ interrupted, “don’t you dare even think that for one…” the other Applejack twitched her head to the side yanking the real one over the now open grave dropping her in and closing it up.

The fake Applejack put her hoof on the headstone and pushed it forward, slamming it to the ground and started to walk forward slowly. It gave up the farm slang all together with its next statement. “ _How about every time you looked at Equestria when you were on the moon and thought of how you would make everypony that disregarded the miraculous night sky you sometimes spent days preparing, suffer for their crimes. And when they begged for forgiveness, you would stare at them and laugh. Is that what you would call, just… a… dream…?_ ” This creature may have been in Applejack’s dream, but the only way it could have known about the secrets Luna had is if it was more than just a nightmare.

“Luna, what’s happen’?”

“I don’t know,” She replied, watching the imposter’s eyes turn black which seeped onto her face and spread until she was fully covered, “but we need to run, now!”

Nightmare AJ cast a long shadow that went under their hoofs with a red face staring back at them, “ _I don’t think so._ ” Tendrils of black shadows wrapped around the pony’s legs and started pulling them into the ground. “ _You honestly thought escaping from me would be that easy? How could you even consider something that ridiculous?_ ”

Luna pulled against the darkness trying to free herself and looked at Apple Bloom seeing an opportunity, “Because I am here to protect ponies from monsters like you!” she blasted the shadow surrounding the filly and wrapped her aura around the earth pony’s body. Afterward, Luna sliced a small rupture connected to the dream realm and tossed Apple bloom through before it closed.

The yellow farm pony shot up in her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs. She rapidly kicked her blankets until she fell off her mattress, “LUNA!!! APPLEJACK!!!!” Big Mac nearly busted the door off its hinges coming in to save her.

When he saw no real threat in the room, except for his hyperventilating sister he relaxed a little, “Calm down Apple Bloom do ya have any idea what…”

“Big Mac, Applejack in danger so is Luna!” the filly grabbed her saddlebag and started shoving whatever she thought she might need into it, “Ah need to tell Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo! Ah have ta…”

“Go back ta bed, it was just a nightmare.”

“Yeah, a nightmare that even Luna couldn’t…” she paused for just a moment frozen in place.

“Apple Bloom I know you're worried about, AJ but can ya please…”

“Does that look like a nightmare to you!?” she exclaimed, pointing a hoof to a corner that was darker than what it should have been.

“Nope.”

“Your majesty! Princess! Wake up, it's urgent,” commander Cross Blades said trying to wake her.

Celestia stretched her legs as she groggily awoke, rubbing the sleep from eyes, “What’s the situation,” she said still not fully rested, but not as tired as last night thanks to millenniums of wakeup routines.

“It’s Luna, she’s… Uh… you better see for yourself.”

“Luna?” last night’s dream came rushing back, she had seen her sister enter her dream with a few others before she was cut off. She turned to the balcony and gasped, “Oh Luna, what have you gotten yourself into?” the young alicorn sister was encased in a globe of shadowy light suspended as if she were in a lava lamp with inky black droplets coming and going off of her and the edge of the barrier. The most unsettling part was her dull black eyes with veins rooted into her sockets and dark ooze protruding out of her mouth.

“What should we do?” asked a guard.

“Double the guard and tighten security. Make sure every last square inch of this castle is under constant surveillance at all times, and report anything that looks even the least bit suspicious, and I mean anything!”

“RETRIBUTION!!” Cerebral Cortex bellowed storming through the cavernous hallways, “Where is that harpy!?” The pony reached the room he knew Retribution to be in and blew the colossal doors clean off, “She has gone too far this ti… by the stars, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!”

“YOU SAID IT YOURSELF SHE’S GONE TO FAR. WHEN I ASKED HER WHY SHE ACTED IN THAT MANNER SHE SAID…” Retribution, landed a solid blow to her face leaving a head shaped crater on the wall she was impaled on.

“ _These…ack… creatures are so easy to scare._ ”

“These _creatures_ are my species and my only ticket to freedom!” Cerebral sneered.

“ _WERE_ YOUR SPECIES,” Retribution corrected, “IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN…”

“Forgotten!? I have spent hundreds of millenniums paying the price of my mistake! After I turned into… THIS!... I have been trapped in solitude up until I crossed paths with you. But if that _thing_ pulls another stunt like that, not only will the entire PLANET want to wage war against us but will want our heads displayed on their wall no matter what excuse we present!!”

“I’M AWARE OF THAT, WHICH IS WHY…”

“You’re no better treating her this way! She may have overdone it a little, but that doesn’t mean you should kill her!”

“I GAVE HER TWO CHOICES DEATH OR THE ALTERNATIVE.” Retribution struck her stomach hard enough to leave a hole followed by two alternation punches on her face. “SHE CHOSE THE ALTERNATIVE. OTHERWISE, I WOULDN’T BE USING PHYSICAL ATTACKS, YOU KNOW THEY HAVE NO EFFECT ON HER.”

“This madness! You have no right to gah…” Cerebral’s throat was constricted as he was lifted to Retributions face.

“IF YOU NEVER MET US, YOU WOULD STILL BE IN ISOLATION, AND WE WOULDN’T BE THIS CLOSE TO FREEING YOU. ON TOP OF THAT, WHERE I’M FROM, I HAVE A FEW SET RULES. SHE BROKE ONE OF THEM, THIS IS BEYOND EVEN YOU, SO STAY OUT OF THIS.” He tossed Cerebral aside and released the harpy from the wall. Upon exiting the room, he stomped on her head, cracking it like a frail, brittle egg. “DON’T MOVE UNTIL YOUR ABILITIES HAVE RETURNED, OR I WILL END YOU PERMANENTLY! COME CEREBRAL, THERE ARE STILL PREPARATIONS THAT NEED ATTENDING TO. I, HOWEVER, HAVE A MESS TO CLEAN UP.”

What was left of the harpy, lay motionless on the ground. Still very much alive but temporarily incapacitated from the use of her abilities. She, or it, has existed since the beginning of existence, and its primary food source was the fear and panic others expressed. No amount of physical damage could kill the creature. However, it had one weakness, being scared, and there was only one being alive that could do that. It has spent countless eons perfecting the art of terror and fright, but one day there was an individual it came across that had no fear, if anything all she managed to do was angering him. But that was the same reason she would follow him to the end of reality till death do they part because even with all her experience, he was the more terrifying than anything she could achieve.

“It has been two days, and they are still asleep,” Zecora said looking at the lifeless lumps littering the room under the blankets Spike provided for them, some breathing softly others snoring loudly. She began to dig through her satchel, “this should wake them from there slumber no matter how deep.” A vial was removed from the bag, and she pulled the cork quickly covering her snout before putting it inches away from Rainbow Dash’s nose.

At that moment, Spike, who was outside watering the plants, smelt the worst stench that has ever entered his nostrils, “Whew, where is that horrible smell coming from.” As he spoke, the flowers started to noticeably wilt, “It smells worse than a timber wolf trying to use skunk spray as a toothpaste.” He grabbed a towel and tied it around his mouth to dampen the smell as he started to look for the source. “Better get that cleaned before Twilight and the others wake up.”

Zacora stood dumbfounded as the pegasus only snorted and turned on her side, disregarding the putrid odor. “I can’t believe this formula was so easy for them to dismiss.” She pulled out a cloth and poured a small amount of liquid on instantly soaking into the fibers, before setting the open bottle on a table, “however I would like to see them sleep through this.” The cloth was placed directly on top of Twilight’s face. When the lavender Alicorn inhaled, the tissue entered her nasal cavity making her snout twitch, followed by a sneeze launching it across the room. She rubbed her nose then like the pegasus before her, she shifted into a more comfortable position and continued to sleep. “How can this be? this makes no sense at all.”

During her state of absolute bewilderment, Spike, who found a gasmask most likely stashed away by Pinkie, entered the room. “Where is that horrible smell coming from?”

“Mostly from this vile and a little more on a cloth by that wall.”

The purple dragon tediously approached the cloth and put on a pair of gloves followed by another pair then preceded to grab fire tongs to pick up the reached thing. He was about to leave before his eyes locked with the flames.

“No, wait! STOP WHAT YOUR DOING!!! You don’t know the trouble you are brewing.”

“Gah! Why? what happens if I burn it?”

“Don’t get me wrong, that was a clever thought. But it wouldn’t be appreciated by those living in Canterlot.”

Spike instantly put himself between the flames and the fabric. “I’ll just… uh, bury it in the back somewhere.”

As the dragon left the room, he almost bumped into a yellow filly that has been staying at the castle with her family after their home became haunted by a nightmare come to life. “P.U.! (cough) Spike, (gasp) where in the (cough) name of Tartarus (cough, gasp) did ya git that thing?!” her eyes instantly watering from the cloth that passed inches from her nose.

Down the hall, Big mac opened a door wondering what his sister meant, “Nope.” His face was noticeably green as he covered his snout and closed the door.

The dragon looked at her through the mask, “Uh… Ask Zecora she’ll know more a…”

“EW just (cough) just git rid of it already!! I (gasp) I can’t breathe. (cough, cough, cough)” Spike made a beeline to the outside air before the stench became permanently embedded into the walls, while Apple bloom threw open every window she could reach, to breathe in the fresh, uncontaminated air. “What in tarnation were ya tryn’ ta do, suffocate everypony? (cough) better question, how can they yall still be asleep after that?”

“What amazes me is that this concoction I made was by far the best, but it was intended to wake any creature from even the deepest of rest.”

“I’ll say, that could wake up a hibernatin’ dragon… … by the way… uh how’s AJ doin’?” silence followed the highly concerned filly’s question.

Zacora sighed and drooped her ears, “I’ll at least say that her condition hasn’t gotten worse, but there’s nothing I can do to bring an end to her curse.”

“Well ah hope the Princesses git here soon. They seemed pretty confident in the letter they sent us this mornin’.”

 

* * *

 

(Yesterday, several hours after sundown at the border of the Canterlot Castle grounds.)

Ever since Luna was attacked, all the royal guards were on high alert patrolling every available space they could occupy. Commander Cross Blades saw somepony who was not a guard heading in their direction. “Halt! By order of Princess Celestia turn around now or face the consequences.”

Although his face didn’t show it, he cringed on the inside mainly because the pony he was speaking to, was a young pegasus filly that almost looked old enough to start school. Her coat so black she was virtually nothing but a silhouette, but a few things made something about her seem off. One of them being her mane which somehow flowed in an ethereal way looking like it was part of a nebula from space. Another was the chrome armor she wore that looked very functional and even covered her wings in what appeared to be blades. The last unusual thing were her eyes, they shone as brilliant as the moon showing that she was unquestionably blind, making him wonder if she was just disoriented and in need of some direction.

“Sorry, but the consequence of leaving would be greater than if I don’t do as you say.” She said, not slowing her pace in any way.

“Uh, are you sure you’re not lost?” questioned the commander.

She stopped directly in front of the group of guards that had gathered upon hearing the warning. “Is this not Canterlot Castle?” the filly asked as if she already knew the answer.

If she didn’t have their attention before she did now, “uh, yea, it is.”

Slowly she stood on her hind legs and reached behind her head, pulling out a what looked like a short letter opener made of smoothly polished rock held in her hoof as she took a fighting stance. “Then I suggest you stay out of my way.” Her voice, as small as it was, had more than enough determination behind it to motivate the entire Equestrian army tenfold.

The instincts of the seven guards present told them to defend the Castle and fight the intruder. But how could they when it was a blind filly dressed in an expensive looking costume. Three of the guards however stuck to the protocol and raised their spears, one of which lunged forward.

The young pegasus swiftly dodged the spear missing her by mere millimeters. She cut off the spear tip with the blades on her wings and grabbed the shaft of the weapon. With a spinning motion, she kicked it with enough force to snap the pole in two, breaking it against the head of the guard who attacked sending him flying through a brick wall. Once the guards got over the shock of what just happened, they saw that the filly had almost glided halfway across the castle grounds at an astonishing speed.

Cross Blades stumble to find the right words to use, “I… uh… th… se… SECURITY BREACH!!! A hostile intruder is heading towards the castle! Don’t let her appearance fool you, and don’t underestimate what she’s capable of!”

Pegasi guards and bat ponies swooped down from the sky to intercept the trespasser as well as shot arrows at the assailant only to either have the incoming fire blocked or the guards that did manage to get in front of her incapacitated with ease. In no time the armored filly made it to the castle, and with one leap began to scale the wall. She used her wings to create a downforce air current which allowed her to gallop straight up the side like it was flat ground, knife in her mouth.

When she reached an open balcony on the higher floors, a bat pony stallion dive bombed right into her but ended up being body slammed when they touched the ground. Guards ponies stationed on the other side of the door and in the hall looked into the room to see what all the commotion was and found the young filly inside with one of their fellow guards in a pony-shaped crater on the floor. She took the knife out of her mouth and grabbed a second stone blade as spells began to fly towards her.

 

* * *

 

Cross Blades teleported into Celestia’s room, “Your Highness, we’re under attack.”

“By who, what do they look like?” she almost demanded instantly dropping what she was working on before the interruption.

“Uh, that I’m still trying to figure that out myself, but it was an armored filly?”

Confused Celestia instinctively walked over to a mirror and found herself casting a spell unknown to her, but in doing so, it gave her a visual on the situation at hoof.

 

* * *

 

General Snowcap Summit was an enormous pegasus whose size could only be challenged by Rock hoof, but even then, he was an eye level or two taller. Also, the fact that he came from the original crystal empire guard meant he was almost twice as muscular as said earth pony due to his training. “Explain to me how all of you, Canterlot’s finest, were overpowered by a blind, filly, infant!”

“(cough) she’s… stronger than she look’s?” said one of the injured guards cringing to the fact that he knew his excuse was not going to cut it.

The general sighed putting a hoof to his face, “First, somepony needs to be put in timeout, and once I’m done grounding them, we need a meeting to talk about our response approach and protocol.” He turned to look towards the castle spires and found the area where the intruder currently was at. He opened his wings and bolted straight to his target.

 

* * *

 

Celesta watched the filly work her way through the castle deflecting spells and easily overpowering the guards. “I wonder what she’s…wait, are those...?” the princess focused on the weapons the black pegasus wielded. “that’s not possible!”

“What’s the matter?” Cross Blades asked trying to see what Celestia was talking about.

1“Those blades, they appear to be fabricated from the former changeling throne. One of its abilities, if I recall, was that it could negate all magic spells no matter how powerful they were, so if they are what I think they are, who had the idea of weaponizing such a dangerous object, and how did she get possession of them? Unless… she works for Retribution.” As they continued watching the mirror, General Summit crashed through the wall in front of the attacker.

 

* * *

 

The massive pegasus came to a screeching halt as sparks flew from the hoof claws strapped to his forelegs “Playtime is over, this ends now!”

“My reason for being here does not concern you,” she said unperturbed by his sudden appearance.

“It does when you attack the guards I trained, invade the Castle I am sworn to protect and threaten the safety of the princesses. Now I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m going to if that’s what it will take to stop this madness,” he pulled out a war hammer and stood his ground. “besides isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Madness?” she said calmly, “Compared to what I’ve been through you, don’t stand a chance against me.” Said the filly getting into an equally strong posture.

General Summit swung the hammer down hard, cracking the ground on impact missing his target somewhat on purpose just to be intimidating. It backfired, however, when the filly ducked under the hammer and kicked the handle from his grip. Snowcap barely dodged the handle coming towards his face and watched the filly snap the handle off of the head like it was a toothpick. The handle was tossed into the air and kicked straight towards Snowcap who dodged just in time to watch it get impaled deep into the floor. When he turned back, the general only had enough reaction time to block the onslaught of wing blades with his hoof claws. The incoming attack was powerful enough for him to have to start backing up, at least until his leg hit the embedded weapon handle and he lost his balance.

Celestia and Cross Blades watched the two go at each other for a while longer both worried that nothing was going to stop the attacker, but that raised a question for the princess. “Where was she first seen arriving?”

“I was the one who spotted her on the southwest side of the castle grounds.”

“Southwest? And judging by the path she’s taking it looks like… (Gasp) Luna!” the image of her defenseless sister trapped inside of the sphere of shadowy light popped into her head.

“Say no more I’ll get every guard there is down there immediately.” Cross Blades sprinted to the door and down the hall, Celestia yelling out to him.

“I’ll meet you there, but first there’s something I need to do. Stall for as long as you can!”

“Yes, your majesty!”

 

* * *

 

General Summit had lost most of his armor by now, straps cut loose by the blind filly’s swift strikes, and peeled away like the skin of an orange. He had also taken quite a beating, one that would generally bring any stallion to admit defeat, but he wasn’t one to give up easily. He was leaning against the wall panting hard with sweat dripping down his face looking at his attacker who didn’t seem to be the least bit exhausted. “I’m not (pant) going to lie (pant). I thought this would be easier (gasp, pant). Can you at least (pant) tell me what your name is?”

“If it makes any difference, you can refer to me as Rouge Nebula, and for the record, you are by far the most persistent pony I have fought.”

“Your one to talk,” Snowcap said, getting his breath back, “out of all the opponents I’ve faced, they’re the ones looking like this after I’m done with them. Who trained you?”

“I’m self-taught.”

“At that age!? what are you like five?”

“You’re wasting my time, excuse me while I finish what I came here for.” Nebula started to walk towards the general intending to walk past him.

“Oh, ho ho no. I’m not done with you.” He said, pulling out a broadsword. “don’t think I’ll let you just walk away like that.”

she stood back on her hind legs and said something that made him nervous, “So be it, this time, I won’t be holding back as much as I have been.”

 

* * *

 

As the royal guards gathered in front of the room Luna was in, they could feel the castle structure shake from the fierce battle between Snowcap Summit and Rouge Nebula. “Cross Blades, sir, all the guards got the message to arrive here and are on their way. They should be here shortly.”

Celestia teleported in front of Cross blades and the gathering of Guards. She wore a full suit of armor that she had hoped would never be needed again, but due to recent circumstances, it felt necessary to put it to use it once more. “Your majesty,” said the guard saluting, “Snowcap is still fighting the intruder, Rouge Nebula, and every royal guard we have will soon be…”

A loud crash was heard followed by a gargantuan pegasus being thrown through the wall, into the mass of gathered ponies, and into the room Luna currently occupied. The General erupted into a fit of sickly coughs, taking in raspy breaths as he tried to stand but failed on every attempt. He noticed Celestia making her way towards him. “Forgive me, princess, I (cough, cough, cough) I let my guard down and (cough, cough) failed in my duty as a soldier.” He gritted his teeth wincing in pain and grabbed his side.

“Don’t apologize,” she said calmly trying to comfort the beaten and broken warrior, “I’ll take things from here, for now, I think you should take it easy and tend to your injuries.” She turned her attention to her opponent. The armored filly calmly strode past where the guards use to be and through what was once a doorway without a scratch on her. Watching this made the alicorn ruler give a hostile look with a hatred she hasn’t shown in centuries. “So, I assume you’re the one called Rouge Nebula?”

“Yes, now if you would just step aside…”

“NO!” Celestia erupted using the Royal Canterlot Voice, and she was just getting started, “you will NOT lay a hoof on my sister! If you think you can waltz in my castle threaten the safety of my subjects without consequence and just walk away, YOU ARE WRONG!!” She released a gust of magic to show her power, but Nebula looked less than unimpressed.

“If that’s all you got, then I’m afraid you’re chances of victory are just above nonexistent.” Nebula stared ahead with her empty eyes tossing a stone blade into the air which landed at Celestia’s feet.

This confused the alicorn backing away slightly from the dreaded knife not daring to touch it in any way. Her focus wavered for a brief moment in confusion, but she quickly regained it. “What are you waiting for, make your move!”

“I did, now it’s your turn.”

Snowcap and Cross Blades saw the gesture and realized what she was trying to do. “Princess, be careful (cough, cough)”

“He’s right, her deceitfulness knows no bounds.”

“I’m aware of that, now please let me concentrate.” She drew her sword from its scabbard and readied herself for anything. But the filly just stood there unresponsive and waiting.

“What is it going to be, Princess?” Nebula began to approach at a steady pace, “It’s your choice, so choose carefully.”

Celestia reached out her magic to imprison the seemingly vulnerable filly, but the spell she cast slipped around and avoided the pegasus. “If that’s the way you want it,” Nebula said, feeling the deflected spells, “Then it shall be done.” With a jump and a kick, the other stone knife was hurled past Celestia before she could react, and towards Luna with terrifying power and speed.

“NOOOO!!!” Celestia instantly cast every protective spell she knew around her sister in desperate hopes that it would alter the trajectory or slow it down or anything to stop it from reaching its target. One by one, the barriers were nullified, and it reached Princess Luna in no time.

With a new found rage, The Princess of the sun returned her fiery gaze to her sister’s attacker and was now able to use her magic since the daggers were no longer being wielded. Celestia locked Nebula up in magical chains and shackles tying them around her body strapping her against a pillar and muzzled her for good measure. “THE CRIMES YOU HAVE COMMITTED SHALL BE…” Coughing and gaging was heard from behind, silencing the almighty ruler.

She looked at Luna and saw a thick gooey puddle with a slime-covered shaky alicorn in the middle of the mess. “Luna?” she ran to her sisters’ side as every able-bodied guard surrounded the trapped filly weapons drawn and at the ready. “are you alright?” she didn’t care that her hooves were covered in whatever mucus now plastered the floor, she was just glad that Luna was free. That’s when she saw the stone knife stuck on the banister of the overhanging balcony.

“Don’t swallow.” Nebula said through her facial restraint.

“SILENCE!” One of the guards delivered a cruel blow across her face with the pommel of his sword. “after all the damage you caused, why should…”

“Wait.” Celestia ordered quieting the guard, her attention then returned to Luna, “How are you feeling? Are you hurt?”

“We… I have seen better days but I…” Luna tried to gulp, but it got stuck in her throat and came back up, causing her to vomit a few times, followed by more coughing.

“I did warn you.”

“Another word from you and I’ll…”

“Stand down, let me speak with Rouge Nebula.” Celestia approached as the guards moved over and allowed her passage. She was now eye level with the pitch-black pegasus. “I’m going to ask a few questions, and I want the truth.” She released the muzzle spell and added a new one that made a ring appear around her captives’ neck. “The last time I used this spell was a millennium ago and as painful as it is for me to use it, it was never intended to be cast on one so young.”

“The collar of sincerity, designed for the most dangerous criminals long ago, just one lie is all it takes to strangle whoever it is being used on to death.” Celestia was stunned by the Filly’s calm demeanor and knowledge of the enchantment. “I understand. You want nothing short of direct answers.”

Once the alicorn got over her temporary state of shock, she asked the first question. “What reason did you have to attack my palace.”

“No matter how I looked at it, it was the only way to accomplish my end goal, which was freeing Luna from the curse she was in. Sneaking in would have taken too long with the unicorn guards, and reasoning with any of you was out of the question because none of you would have believed me.”

“You could have said you were here to help, so why didn’t you just say so?”

“You’re telling me that I could have walked up to any guard or servant within the premises and asked them to let me pass so I could stab their princess with my knife? My apologies I’ll make sure to do that next time.”

Upon hearing that everypony except Celestia erupted into uncontrollable laughter. One of them barely having enough air to speak, “we wouldn’t have let you take… another… … step.” As quickly as it started, the laughing ended. What she said was true, if she had told them that, then like she said before the end result would have been no different than what it currently was.

Now it was Celestia’s turn to laugh which began as a chuckle. “Oh, now I understand. It would be rather difficult to believe that a knife could solve our problem, that is quite the predicament.” She continued to laugh for a little longer before it slowly died down into a warm smile. “Another question, are you or do know…”

“Princess excuse my bluntness, but I will only answer to direct questions. So, for both our sakes be specific, and get to the point.”

Her smile faded, “Alright, do you work for the one called, Retribution.”

“I work for no one, If I need more than myself to get something, then I’m the one calling the shots.”

“Do you know anything of Retribution?”

“Retribution and I are equally matched. And just so we’re clear, you and I are after the same goal even though our paths to get there may differ significantly. If you want more information on what I know, I’ll let you ask whatever you want but keep in mind some of that information is best left alone Warrior of Ever Dawn.”

“That information is supposed to be…”

“Secret? If you’re allowed to have secrets, then shouldn’t I keep a few as well?”

Celestia knew Nebula wasn’t lying but felt that she wasn’t actually answering her questions, “It makes sense now why you acted the way you did. However, it will take some time to fully gain your trust. On top of that, you still need to make up for all my injured guards. One last question how did you know about Luna?”

“Compared to me, princess, you’re the one who’s blind. Without my eyes, I can see more than what you could ever wrap your head around. As for the guards, how about, we make a deal. If you find one pony, who can truthfully claim and prove that I attacked them first or find any injury on them that that wasn’t caused by blunt force I will accept any punishment you can think of death penalty included.”

“Deal.” And with that, all the binding enchantments were broken releasing Rogue Nebula from bondage.

“Feel free to escort me wherever you deem necessary.”

“Sister, wait! There’s another pony that could use her aid.”

“And who might that be?” Celestia asked quizzically.

“Applejack, she was attacked as well, can you do that for us?”

Nebula gave Luna a sideways glance. “bring me to her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Original text (Those blades, my memory is a bit hazy, but a millennium or so ago I read books that had rumors of a deadly weapon called the Arcane or Daedric Dagger. One of its many abilities, if I remember, was that it could cut through spells no matter how powerful they were, but the price to simply obtain one was quote ‘greater than all the riches the world had to offer.’ So, if they are what I think they are, how did she get not one but two if the cost is that great?)


	6. The Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reluctantly trusting their new ally the princesses bring the young pegasus over to solve another issue caused by the ever elusive opponent. however, when they part ways a new problem comes to light as it looks like the changelings start becoming more active.

Spike opened the door to let the sister rulers in. “Luna!” Apple Bloom smiled when the Princess of the night walked in “Ahm so glad to see you’re okay, so where’s this pony you said would help?” the next group that came in was half a dozen guards surrounding a black pegasus filly with a saddlebag and a, not as beat up, pegasus giant with a limp.

“Whoa, what’s with all the guards,” Spike asked in Apple Bloom's place “and happened to you, did you get in a fight with a group of yaks?”

The guards were still skeptical towards trusting the now unarmored filly and offered to accompany them. “I’d… Rather not talk about it,” Snowcap had insisted on coming because he was the only one who had lasted the longest against the filly and was willing to provide as much time as he could if necessary, even if it was a few seconds.

“Take me to Applejack, and let’s get this over with.” Rogue Nebula practically demanded.

“Wow straight to the point hu, mah sisters this way,” said Apple Bloom leading them down a corridor, “Ya know, when ah was told somepony would help us, ah didn’t expect… uh.”

“a blind pegasus who seems to be younger than you? I thought you learned that appearances can be deceiving and to not judge others from the way they look.”

“Yeah, that…”

Luna tried to keep the conversation going, “Don’t take it personally, I too learned rather quickly she’s not much of a talker. Not to mention, I’ve had it up to here with her attitude.”

“How’d you two meet anyway?”

Luna paused to find the right words without scaring the farm pony, “Perhaps I’ll tell you another time, but I assure you if anypony can aid your sister in her time of need, Rogue Nebula is the only one I‘m aware of who can get it done.”

“Ah’ll take your word for it, AJ’s in here.”

The yellow earth pony opened the door showing a bed with a restless orange mare sweating buckets and grunting heavily, thrashing against the restraints put on her to avoid injury. Being in whatever never-ending nightmare, she was thrown into was beginning to take its toll on her. “I need to get closer.” Nebula informed, the guards opening up to make a pathway that still put themselves between her and anyone else in the room. When she was at the foot of the bed Rouge Nebula climbed up and said what needed to be done. “Hold her still while I remove what’s causing the distress, Apple Bloom,” a stone knife was pulled out from the bag, “wait outside with Celestia until the screaming stops.”

“Wait what do ya mean by…” The yellow filly was cut off by Celestia putting her hoof in front of her.

“Promise us that Applejack will live.” The alicorn said sternly.

“I don’t make promises that I can’t keep.” Nebula responded as she began leisurely tracing the tip of the blade on Applejacks stomach and chest as a few guards held her steady. “However, I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to make sure she survives.” The knife hovered over the midsection of her left side ribcage as the pegasus placed both hooves firmly on the handle, “now get out before you see something you regret.”

Before Apple Bloom could retaliate Celestia wrapped her magic around the filly and stepped out of the room closing the door. As the door clicked shut, they heard Applejack scream. “What is she doing to her?! Celestia, is mah sister going to be okay?” Apple Bloom asked. Celestia was about to respond when a louder scream erupted from within the room, “Ah don’t know how much more of this ah can take.”

Celestial agreed despite only leaving the room less than a minute ago, “Nor do I.” she decided to enter the room to make sure Nebula was staying true to her word, “give me a moment while I…” her words were cut off by the sight of a dagger flying through the cracked open door, lodging itself into the wall. To their horror, a black sludge was stuck on the blade viciously wriggling as it started to pop and sizzle burning away in the sunlight, it was making a sound like it was dying in agony until nothing was left.

Celestia and Apple Bloom whipped their heads around and looked into the room while hearing two sets of rapid hoof steps running down the hall. Applejack was now relaxed to the point of barely being able to take shallow breaths, her eyes looked glassy as they gazed at the general direction of the opened door, “A… pple… Bloom,” was all she managed to say before her whole body went limp.

Big Mac and a white earth pony with a hospital uniform skidded around the corner, “I heard screaming is everything okay?” asked nurse Red Heart only to see the alicorn ruler and the farm filly frozen in place with appalled looks on their faces. Assuming the worst both the stallion and mare bolted to the doorway and looked inside their pupils shrinking from what they saw. A small army of guards surrounded the bed Applejack was in as an out of place pegasus filly slipped an object back into her bag obviously trying to hide what it was from all the onlookers.

She hopped down from the bed and began to walk towards the exit, “cut her loose and make sure she bleeds out for a little while before stitching her back up, I don’t want to risk an infection nor do I want to take any chances that a part of that parasitic curse was left inside. That being said,” the Filly turned her head and seemed to stare directly at Red Heart, “clean the cut I made with alcohol and expose it to sunlight for the next two minutes at the least.”

Snapping out of her stunned trance, Red Heart rushed over to Applejack. “Is… is she?” Apple Bloom couldn’t bring herself to ask what she wanted because she was afraid of what the answer would be.

“Heart rate, normal. Breathing average. Body temperature stabilizing. If this keeps up, I think she’ll be fine.”

A huge sigh of relief was given by everypony in the room. Luna put herself between the Rouge Nebula and the doorway and asked in a harsh tone, “Was it really necessary to be so… so ruthless with handling this situation?”

“If I were any slower or more careful then what I had been, I would have had to chase that thing around repeatedly stabbing until I got lucky. Is that what you wanted?”

The moment she said that the image of her practically mutilating the orange mare popped into their minds. Luna was about to retort when a thought occurred to her _. How can one so young be this calm about a situation I find revolting to discuss at all?_ At that moment she saw a glimpse of herself in the pegasus, Luna then asked a question that was more rhetorical than genuine, “your hurting inside, aren’t you? what terrible iniquity did you experience to make you this heartless?”

Rouge Nebula seemed to give a hostile look at the Princess of the night as she responded, “You will never be old enough to understand what I had to go through.” Her pure black coat hiding the majority of her expression if she was giving one at all. Upon hearing that every pony present in the room felt a twinge of remorse and pity towards the filly. “Perhaps it would be wise if I were to check the others for any signs of foul play.” She said resuming to exit the room then added, “I heard them snoring on my way here and don’t worry, I’m not planning on cutting anyone else unless it is necessary to do so, with your permission of course.” Nebula jumped high enough to flip kick the stone knife free from the wall and landed opening her saddlebag, catching it as it fell.

The walk to the rest of the sleeping ponies was done in silence, when they arrived, a sharp smell stung their nose, “Uh sorry about the smell.” Spike said wearing an apron, rubber gloves, and a face mask using the strongest cleaning solutions available to the public. “Zecora was trying to wake everyone up using a formula she made, and I got say that is some potent stuff, I just barely got the smell off the floor where a handkerchief with a few drops on it landed.”

A few eyes looked towards the zebra, while Celestia wordlessly opened up the windows to their fullest and cast a spell to create a cross breeze to aerate the room. “They're fine,” Nebula stated after only a few seconds of observation. “Luna, I strongly suggest that you visit them in the dream realm,”

“What!? Why would you consider such a reckless act, need I remind you of that creature that we… that I barely escaped from with my life along with Applejack and Apple Bloom?”

Nebula reached into her bag and pulled out an item, tossing it to Luna who caught it in her magic and immediately recognized what it was.

“A dream catcher?” she said in the most unamused tone she has ever used.

“Now that my work here is done, I’ll be on my way.”

“Before ya leave…” Apple Bloom spoke up, “Uh could you maybe take care of… Uh, well my brother and I would like ta go home but there’s somth’n there that we don’t wanna risk runn’n into if it’s still hang’n around. We left so fast we didn’t have time ta pack or anyth’n, Big Mac just grabbed me an Granny then jumped through the window… and some of the wall.”

“Eyup,” said the red stallion rubbing his shoulder.

“But we can’t stay here much longer we’ve gotta git back to our farm, them apples ain't gonna buck themselves off our trees.”

“Eyup.”

Nebula closed her eyes and sighed showing the first sign of any kind of emotion, even though it was annoyance, “I’ll agree to take a look, but if I continue to fix every issue that you can’t solve, you may as well step down from your thrones and hand your crowns over to me.”

“Okay, you just crossed the line.” general Summit said not wanting to tolerate Nebula’s arrogant behavior any longer. “I’ve had enough of you! You think you can just go wherever you want, do whatever you feel like and just walk away without facing the consequences of your actions.”

“You do realize that without my help, Luna would still be imprisoned in that curse and the condition Applejack was in, she wouldn’t have survived by sunrise tomorrow. If you want my opinion, you wouldn’t last a day in my line of work,”

“Silence both of you!” Luna said, trying to end the argument before it escalated.

“Sorry princess but this time I’m not going to back down because this toddler thinks they can take your place after solving a few issues.” He turned his attention towards the filly, “as for you, I doubt there’s anything you can handle that I can’t.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Very well, challenge accepted,” Nebula delivered a swift kick to a table causing a bottle that Zacora, Spike, and Apple Bloom recognized to fall off and shatter on the ground.

 

* * *

 

Shining Armor got out of his chariot carrying Flurry Heart and began walking up the steps to his sister’s castle. Without warning a wall of the vilest stench, he had ever smelt hit him like a brick wall causing his face to turn green and the baby alicorn to puke on his uniform. Not even a second after the disgusting odor washed over them, the doors to the crystal palace flew open with half an army sprinting out at light speed slowing down the moment they got outside chocking and coughing up a storm.

Shining cast a spell to put a bubble of fresh air around him as his eyes began to water, but the smell was already stuck in his nose. “You _had_ to provoke her, didn’t you!?” he heard Luna say between sputtering gasps. Without warning a liquid like bubble encompassed the entire castle. “That should stop the smell temporarily until proper measures can be taken.”

“Zacora… Never… Again.” Spike said with a hint of anger.

“I agree, this is too much even for me.”

“I don’t think we have enough cleaning supplies to wash this out, how did you even manage to make something this in your hut.”

“The smell is a reaction weeks after it was sealed from the air, it isn’t easy to make, and it takes a lot of care.”

“What is (cough) going on?” Shining Armor asked, grateful that he could use his daughters’ vomit to mask the earlier stench.

“Why don’t you ask her.” General Summit said pointing a hoof towards the castle entrance. Nebula slowly trotted out and approached the edge of the protective barrier before stopping. “how?”

“I thought you said you could handle anything I could,” she said.

“I wasn’t talking about this.”

“What difference does it make? I handled it, and you didn’t.” Nebula took in a slow deep breath through her nose and exhaled as if she actually enjoyed the odor before continuing, “if anything, all this managed to do is remind me of something I had to eat one time, might I also mention that the taste was even worse than the smell.”

Hearing her say that proved too much for over half of the ponies causing them to lose their stomach contents, Snowcap turned green, “why?”

Nebula walked through the watery barrier before responding, “I’m still alive, aren’t I? Would you be willing to go that far? I already have.”

“Fine, you win. You win!”

Nebula gave a sigh, “I’m going to Sweet Apple Acres to investigate the farmhouse. Once my analysis is complete, I will leave any remaining issue that arises for you to handle.” She began to leave as the Apple family followed along with some of the royal guards to keep an eye on her until the very end.

“Ookayy? So, will somepony tell me what just happened?” Shining said, waving a hoof in front of his nose.

Luna started explaining first, “perhaps it would be best if…” coughing could be heard as an alicorn rushed out of the castle. When they got on the other side of the odor shield, they started to breathe in clean air like it was going out of style.

“How d(cough)id that horrible sm(cough)ell not wake(cough) up anypony (cough)else,” Cadence said relieved to be in a more habitable environment.

“Glad to see you’re okay... honeybun,” Shining Armor said with a stern look on his face. After Chrysalis’s first appearance, the couple came up with code words to avoid another incident like the wedding, and he just used one of them

Candance gave a concerned look before hugging him making Shining tense up, “You silly stallion, I’m sorry for scaring you like that,” a tear running down her cheek as Flurry joined in on the fun, “I wasn’t planning to be away for so long but why would you think I’m not me?”

Shining Armor relaxed with a sigh, “I’m just glad Celestia sent me that letter explaining what happened, I thought I was losing my mind. Apparently, after you left for the friendship quest, you and everyone you were with were replaced.” Cadence gasped in shock. “that’s not the scary part. The scary part was you actually were you, I confirmed it on multiple occasions. Whenever I tested you, you just laughed it off. But you were also… distant. I could tell you were keeping things from me, and you spent a lot of time alone, and I mean a lot.”

“I wouldn’t keep things from you, you know I’m not like that.”

Shining handed the baby alicorn who was eager to be with her mom over to his wife, “I know, but I’m just getting started. What terrifies me most of all is that only reason I’m believing you right now is because of Flurry Heart. The moment you came back a couple of weeks ago, she wanted nothing to do with you. At first, I thought she was being fussy, you know how she gets. After a while though, I became suspicions, other than keeping to yourself more than usual nothing was out of the ordinary, personality wise you were the same old you, and you had the same memories and secrets only we know.” He paused and gave a chuckle, “talking about it now makes me realize just how scary it was being around you. Anyway, enough about that, mind telling me what was going on earlier and who was that pegasus?”

Luna began explaining to him what happened, starting from when they awoke in the Everfree forest and ending with how Rough Nebula helped Applejack, while Celestia and the guard ponies began strategizing how to eradicate the odor within the castle like it was the most dastardly villain in all of Equestria. In the middle of her explanation, Luna stopped and looked around, “Come to think of it, where’s Red Heart? I don’t see her out here.”

As if on cue, another figure emerged from the castle entrance wearing a full body hazmat suit with a rebreather mask. Upon exiting the containment spell, they removed the mask revealing it to be nurse Red Heart who looked rather ticked, “Either you get my patients out of that level 5 biohazard environment or mark my words I will personally see to it that you will never live this down alicorn or not!”

“Uh, I just remembered.” Shining Armor reached into a pocket on his uniform and pulled out an envelope quickly handing it to Cadence, “I came over here to personally give this to you. Now that I’ve done that, I think it’s time to…”

“Oh no you don’t,” Red heart said, stopping him in his tracks. “If you’re here, you’re helping. End of story!”

“Why Shining dear,” Cadence chimed in with a smile, “what was it we were just talking about… my little sunshine?”

He turned around with a sheepish grin on his face, “Hehe I guess you caught me… ladybug.”

“Silver Hilt,” Celestia said, “how soon can we get the equipment needed to begin the operation.”

The unicorn Guards horn lite up, and an array of the strongest cleaning supplies in existence and full body outfits equipped with oxygen tanks appeared in front of them. “Ready and waiting your highness.”

“Just out of curiosity, where did you find that suit you’re wearing Red Heart?” asked Spike.

“This was in a vase I knock over when… Oh no!” Red Heart’s eyes widened as her attention was now focused behind everyone making them turn their heads. A figure that just came into view was slowly making their way to the group, and it didn’t take a doctor to know that they needed immediate medical attention.

 

* * *

 

The next three days were spent washing, scrubbing, rinsing, cleaning, and emptying the castle to eradicate the odor from every last item it came into contact with, including all the books. During that time, the sleeping ponies slowly woke up one by one while Luna, rather reluctantly, held a meeting with all the ponies that were involved with the friendship quest in their dreams. Doing so allowed her to bring each individual up to speed to what was happening with their daily lives.

Rainbow was put on vacation as a reward for her stunning performance in the air show she never attended nearly pulling off a double sonic rain-boom and was pardon for her unknown absence with Luna's help. Rarity was glad her sister hadn’t burned the Boutique to the ground or worse sold it. Instead, the unicorn’s business was at present overshadowing even her biggest name brand rivals and had a new department specifically designed to create a clothing line for all different kinds of species. This included breezies, griffins, dragons, changelings, minitours, and diamond dogs, to name a few. As for Twilight, a new wing in the museum of ancient history was currently under construction due to her recent discovery of an ancient civilization that outdated even the oldest pre-Equestrian cities.

Among the rest of the group, two things remained consistent, their lives were drastically made more comfortable at the expense of distancing themselves from their closest friends and family. Furthermore, a discussion with Zecora was scheduled in the dream realm in which she said, “After the rumors began escalating, I did a little investigating. And as I feared the alicorn amulet has disappeared.” An army of power-hungry villains was bad enough, but if they had the amulet, the outcome couldn’t possibly look any more ominous then it already was.

By the time the entire castle was emptied of all its contents, the only ones left to wake up were Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “I’m beginning to wonder if Rainbow Dash is just _pretending_ to be asleep only to get out of helping us with cleaning.” Rarity said distastefully glancing in said pegasus’s direction, “If she is planning to say it was another one of her ridiculous competitions to beat us at whoever was asleep the longest as an excuse, I will personally take all of her first-place ribbons and turn them into a _dishcloth_!”

“NO! NOT MY RIBBONS!!”

“Just as I suspected.” Said the white unicorn with a smug grin as pinkie was handed a bag of bits.

“Okay, you caught me gees, but how did you know?”

“For starters, I can see the crumbs in your mane from your midnight snacking, and the blanket you’re under started moving way more than it should have for a sleeping pony just to name a few. But what stood out the most was your absence in our last meeting in the dream realm.”

“Hehe, I guess that would be a big give away wouldn’t it.”

“Less talking, more scrubbing.” Rarity threw a mop and bucket of water at the pegasus with her magic.

“Ugh fine,” Said the cyan pegasus as she begrudgingly got to work. “I thought you guys have been cleaning this for days, shouldn’t you almost be done by now?”

“We have,” responded everyone within earshot numbering to at least twenty-five individuals.

Applejack continued on with the statement. “we’ll all be done once it no longer smells like yer sock drawer.”

“There’s no way that…” Rainbow sniffed the air, “Huh, what do you know, it does. Wait, how do you know what my sock drawer smells like?”

Applejack was saved from answering that question by a knock on the front door. On the other side was a sky-blue creature with a pink mane they all knew as Ocellus the changeling, and from what they could see, she had been crying for some time. “Ocellus!?” said Spike, who answered the door, “What are you doing here? We thought…” the changeling charged forward and embraced the dragon in a hug as she began to cry more.

“I… I… Please I didn’t know… I didn’t know where else to go,” she said between sobs.

Spike returned the hug before gently pulling Ocellus off of him. “What happened, why aren’t you with the other changelings?”

“Thorax wouldn’t let me in.” Spike and the five mares behind him gasped.

“Uh, would ya mind repeatn’ that sugar cube, Ah don’t think we heard ya right. It sounded like ya said Thorax wouldn’t let ya in.”

“That’s what I said, I was spending some time at Yona’s place, but when I heard that the changelings were acting weird, I went back home. When I got there, the hive looked like it was barricaded and ready for an invading army. I tried to get in, but Thorax told me,” she changed into the changeling leader and continued with his voice, “I will not allow anything to come in or out while there’s a monster on the loose, if you don’t leave now I will be forced to get rid of you myself!” She changed back to her original form as more tears started to fall. “It's like he didn’t even recognize me.”

“There, there,” said Futtershy patting the Changelings head in comfort, “Could you… tell us how long ago this was?” she asked.

“Yesterday afternoon why?”

Everyone except Ocellus stared at each other, “well at least some answers are better than none at all, right?” Pinkie stated.

“What?” Ocellus asked, very confused about what was being said.

“Uh, follow me. I think there’s someone who would like to see you.” Spike hovered and led the group to a nearby guestroom. The dragon opened the door and said, “Hey, uh, you got a visitor.”

“Oh, who is it?” said a voice Ocellus would recognize anywhere.

She pushed herself into the room to make sure she wasn’t mistaken. “Thorax!?”

“Ocellus!?” Both changelings were equally stunned to see one another. “How did you escape?”

“What happened to you… escape? Wha… What are you talking about?”

Spike started to explain to both sides what was going on, “Thorax got here about three days ago, and he was telling us that he got attacked in his chambers after seeing another changeling get possessed or something. But until you showed up saying that Thorax was at the changeling hive yesterday, we couldn’t make heads or tails as to why they were acting the way they were.”

“Oh, right you were with the yaks. Wait, I was at the hive!?” Said Thorax surprised by the news he was hearing.

“And now we know, the Thorax you saw was a fake, an imposter. True, Changelings can imitate one another, but when you said he didn’t recognize you when everyone should know who you are, that tells me they weren’t a real changeling. Also, a real changeling wouldn’t be as aggressive as what you described. They would be scared but not aggressive.”

“You got attacked! Is that why you look all beat up?” Ocellus said, pointing out the gauze and bandages Thorax was wearing.

“No, actually this was something else. When Stinger got possessed, I went back to my room and started to write a distress letter to every princess I knew, but I was followed. The last thing I remember was being pulled into complete darkness. The next thing I knew, I was running as fast as could in the Everfree forest from… something? I don’t know why I was running, but I knew I had to get away fast. It took me a while to remember I had wings, but when I opened them up a branch snagged me on the left side, and I fell down a steep hill… all those rocks.” Thorax muttered, grimacing as the memory resurfaced. “It took me two hours to hobble my way to the castle before I collapsed from exhaustion.”

Just then, a new voice entered the conversation, “There you guys are, I was wondering…” Twilight’s eyes widened she saw the two changelings, “Thorax, Ocellus! Does this mean the changelings are no longer in hiding? That’s wonderful!”

“Quite the opposite actually,” Spike corrected, “We just learned the changelings couldn’t possibly be in any more danger.” Then they explained everything again to the Purple Alicorn.

“Could Chrysalis, be responsible?” Ocellus asked with a trembling voice.

“Possible, but unlikely.” Twilight said still processing the new information, “Even if Chrysalis was the imposter, we all know who’s really behind her actions.”

“Retribution.” Everyone except Thorax and Ocellus said in unison.

“Who?” Both changelings asked at the same time.

“Girls, have the pillars found any information about a creature by that name?” asked Twilight. The pillars had traveled to the farthest reaches of Equestria in search of anything that could give them an edge on their new adversary.

“Last I heard, nothing,” Pinkie said in annoyance, “they couldn’t find any record of a baddie ancient or modern with that tile even with my help.”

“So, all we really know about him right now is his name and that Chrysalis, Discord, and a few others are absolutely terrified of him. and he’s keeping them against their will, more or less, which is why they asked us to help them escape.”

“Why should we help her, don’t you remember what she did?” Ocellus said horrified by what she was hearing, “I still have nightmares about it to this day.”

Twilight gave Ocellus a solemn look and said, “If it wasn’t for her, Discord wouldn’t have been able to give us what little information we have now. Besides, Trixie is trapped with them, and we encountered her in the Everfree, uh… how long ago was that?”

“Uh, five or six days ago I… I think.” Futtershy answered.

“Right, we meet her about a week ago in the Everfree and if she wanted to do anything to us, trust me she was in the perfect position to do so but she didn’t.” Out of nowhere, she felt a twinge of remorse towards the former changeling queen strong enough to say, “Did anypony else just feel like she deserves to get rescued from the place she’s imprisoned in?”

“Weird,” Rainbow said.

“I felt that too,” Futtershy answered, “It was like I knew how much she was suffering and needed to get away from that awful place.”

“Okay, we need to bring back everypony here who was called on the friendship mission and start studying that book. We’re going to get them out as soon as we can.” Twilight said, then added, “before we do that though can any of you tell me where all my stuff disappeared to and why my castle smells like Rainbows sock drawer,”

“Seriously! I know I’m popular because of my awesomeness, but does all of Equestria know what my sock drawer smells like?”


	7. Aspects of the Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is having difficulty learning about the enemy they are up against. What little they can find isn't enough information, nor does it seem that old. Shining Armor, on the other hoof, had spoken to the only known pony who has seen Retrobution, and his description is anything but pleasant.

Sunset’s legs were moving much slower than she wanted them to as she sprinted towards the statue of Canterlot’s mascot at breakneck speeds, with a book clenched tightly in her hand. Without stopping, she dove headfirst into the portal to her homeworld and tumbled to a halt in a room with her fellow quest members, “I FOUND SOMETHING!!” she exclaimed with an outstretched empty hoof. She looked at her fingerless appendage and said, “Uh… I had it, I just uh…” as she started desperately searching for where the book she had could have gone.

“It’s over here,” Twilight said, seeing where it flew off to, grabbing it in her magic. but Rainbow snatched it out of her purple aura, looking at the title in disbelief.

Her mouth started moving with a jumble of sounds coming out until she finally said what she wanted to, “How!! Explain to me how you got a hold of ‘Daring Do and the Dark Deeds Demons Do to Monsters’!! When I heard it was discontinued, I spent the next three days locked in my room, sulking.” Rainbow tore open the book and began to devour the words within. “And It’s autographed!” she squealed in delight.

“I’ll give you three guesses who the demon is,” said Sunset.

Upon hearing Sunset say what she did Rainbow, already on page three, snapped back to reality, her eyes widening in shock “GAH!!” the pegasus swatted the book away in desperation.

All eyes fell on the book, sprawled on the floor, “No way, A.K. Yearling actually had an encounter with Retribution!?” Twilight picked up the book again and began to flip through the pages.

“No, somehow A.K. Yearling wrote a story with a character that has the same name and potentially the same attributes as Retribution.”

Rainbow leaned closer to Twilight and said in a loud whisper, “Should we tell her that A.K. Yearling  _is_  Daring Do?”

Sunset laughed when she heard her pegasus friend say that, only to stop when she realized that she was being serious. “You got to be kidding right? This is some kind of inside joke?”

“That’s a story for another time,” Twilight answered.

Realization dawned on Sunset’s face, “So all of those—”

“Sunset focus. Where is Retribution talked about?”

“It’s mentioned in the last few pages. Here…”

 

* * *

 

“Well, they say two heads are better than one, but you can’t deny that threes a crowd,” Daring Do said once she was finished tying up Dr. Caballeron. She made her way to a pile of rubble resting on top of Ahuizotal and grabbed the scroll that was just out of his reach.

“I’m not going to lie, that was some pretty fancy maneuvering you two did back there, but I guess teamwork can also be—”

“ _RAHH!!_ ” Roared the creature under the pile of rocks, “You don’t understand what you're dealing with this time, Daring Do!”

“That’s right,” Caballeron stated, “when  _he_  finds out we failed, let's just say that spending life in prison would be more satisfying because we would actually be  _alive_!”

“He? Who's  _he_?” The explorer extraordinaire looked back at her defeated adversaries, but this time instead of seeing their hatred towards her, she saw something that she didn’t expect, fear. They were scared, really scared.

Ahuizotal gave a grim look, “ _He_  is not someone you cross and then just walk away unscathed.  _He_  is someone who can make anyone's darkest nightmares come to life.  _He_  is a demon amongst demons! His name is Retribution!”

“Daring Do, for your own safety and ours, please,” Dr. Caballeron said, “If you leave us here, you may as well be condemning us to death. Actually, death would be a more welcoming sight compared to what he has in store. Ask yourself, is that something you can live with?...”

Daring Do was then told information that would horrify even the the the devil himself as she realized what she was truly up against.

 

* * *

 

“That’s how it ends!” Rainbow exclaimed in frustration, “That can’t be it. There’s got to be more!” The cyan pegasus began to look for the nonexistent pages that held all the answers.

“Come on! Don’t get our hopes up like that and then have it turn out there’s about the same amount of information we already had. Which was how much again?” Twilight paused sarcastically, “Hm, oh right. A big fat NOTHING!!!”

Sunset shot back her argument, “There  _is_  more, that was ju—”

Rainbow interrupted. “Really! What did we miss! What are we not seeing that you can!”

“Stop, yelling!” Sunset shouted, “Why are you mad at me? I thought this would be helpful.”

“We’re not mad at  _you_  dear,” Rarity reassured her, as Twilight backed her up.

“We’re more irritated by the fact that there is no information about Retribution at all, zip, zero, nada, zilch!” Her head hit the table she was sitting at with a hard thunk, “It’s like he just popped out of thin air and is already waiting for us at the finish line of a sick and twisted race that he set up.” Twilight shifted her head, so she was now resting on her chin, “I mean, all the information we’re getting only increases the need to stop him sooner before all of Equestria comes to an end!”

“Yeah,” Pinkie chimed in, “it’s like something  _or someone_  doesn’t want us to know what’s going on until the very last moment or until it’s too late to do anything to stop it!”

(technically you’re not breaking your promise, but you want answers, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

“You know, come to think of it, he hasn’t actually done anything,” Fluttershy stated in realization, confused as to where the thought came from. “Well, not yet at least, but perhaps what I’m trying to say is for all we know, maybe he’s doing all this for a good reason?” Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she was saying it was as if someone was forcefully putting words into her mouth, making her say things that—

 _Okay, okay, I get it._  Thought Pinkie,  _Sheesh, just leave my friends alone already, I made a promise after all, and I intend to keep it._

“Fluttershy, What are you saying! We’re talking about a creature who’s brought together the worst of the worst. Not to mention gathering all of the most powerful artifacts in history!” Sunset said, “Like I was trying to tell all of you guy earlier, the plotline in this book was talking about discovering a map which has the location of an ancient weapon that is capable of creating a continental calamity. Ahuizotal and Caballeron were tasked to retrieve it, but as you can see, they failed, and it mentioned that the ‘demon’ that hired them is collecting more than just that!”

“And you mustn't forget that whole ordeal Applejack and I had to endure whilst we were in the dream ream,” Luna added, remembering Rouge Nebula informing them that the farm mare was on the verge of death. Applejack subconsciously rubbed the stitches she still had from the knife that was twisted into her to remove the curse she was put under.

“You’re right, I don’t know where that came from,” Fluttershy said having control over her words this time.“Although, if he did want to destroy Equestria, and from what we know he could, but that would be really bad, then why hasn’t he yet? What is he waiting for?”

Starlight decided to ask a question that had been on everypony’s mind all week but were too afraid to say anything. “Okay, has anypony else felt like they’re doing something that’s not what they would normally do but ends up being better than the way they have been doing it before? Something like, uh, casting a spell you don’t about or doing tasks that seem pointless but turns out to be more beneficial then you thought? Or, like what we just saw with Fluttershy, saying things that make sense, but you don’t know why?”

“Ah can name three times taday that’s happened ta me.” Applejack answered.

“Well, maybe,” Pinkie said next, “My doppelganger created a few thousand new recipes while we were in the forest, but I’ve already added another three hundred more to go with it. With my eyes closed!”

“That could explain my sudden phase of making cloak after cloak,” Rarity chimed in, “It’s really starting to get on my nerves. The measurements are all exactly the same, but only a dragon could wear something that big and heavy, but why would they? It seems like it would only get in the way of their flying, but I can’t stop making them, and it’s the only thing on my mind, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Ugh, the more we think about it, the more confusing it gets!” Twilight said as she started frantically waving her hooves in the air, feeling a migraine beginning to take shape, “WE NEED ANSWERS!! The only way that’s going to happen is after we free Discord, Trixie, and  _Celestia knows who else,_  from Retribution’s clutches and hope we don’t doom all of Equestria as we know it in the PROCESS!!!”

The sound of hooves slamming onto the table made everyone jump and look at Star Swirl, who had a very irritated look on his face, “If you want to continue bickering, I suggest you do it elsewhere.” He said in a frighteningly calm tone, “I, however, am not going to allow my self to be distracted by unnecessary ranting! Either get back to work or leave so I can work in silence!”

Twilight shied away, “Uh, right.”

“Sorry,” Sunset added, then looked at Twilight and whispered, “So, mind filling me in with what I missed?”

Right after Sunset awoke, she hurried back to the human world to inform her other friend’s about the predicament Equestria was in. Just like everyone else, she was replaced, and the human Twilight was finally relieved to know why Sunset was acting more off than usual, along with having grades that exceeded the overdriven studyholic on steroids, while making it look easy.

Ponyville was a different story. Mere days after the friendship quest began, the creatures that lived in the Everfree forest started to evacuate, including Zecora, leaving the poor small town on its borders in near shambles from the increased amount of monster attacks. Shining Armor had stayed to help set up a defense force, it wasn’t anything like the royal guard, which was spread pretty thin already, but at least there was some kind of protection system. If anypony knew what they were up against, it was Shining, not from confrontation but from seeing the direct results of Retribution’s aftermath.

 

* * *

 

Shining Armor sat in the nearly empty waiting room. He was waiting for the nurse to get permission from the therapist to see the guard named Sharp Shooter. Upon the request of his wife, the white stallion needed to ask him a few questions about what he saw in the frozen wastelands of the Crystal Empire outskirts. He had been at it for the past few days, but the doctor was worried that bringing up the memories of Shooters traumatizing ordeal so soon would rebuke the progress they made with him thus far.

As he waited, Shining made sure that his daughter remained in his line of sight. He had brought her along for ‘reasons,’ she had been acting strangely ever since his wife returned. It was just days ago that he was beginning to notice Cadence’s strange behavior.  _What is she hiding from me?_  He thought to himself as he started pacing.  _She hasn’t really been herself for some time now, it’s not like her to act secretive about something unless it’s brought up later. But it’s been over a week, anything that she could have been hiding, even for a surprise should have already been—_

“Prince, Shining, Armor!” The nurse firmly said, finally succeeding in pulling the stallion out of his deep train of thought. “The doctor is ready for you. Please follow me.”

Shining collected his daughter’s toys. He brought them with to keep her company while he worked and followed the nurse through the door. He would have taken Flurryheart to daycare but, with her being a baby alicorn, she needed extra attention that the daycare center would have found inconvenient and unfair to the other fillies and colts. He gave them a brief rundown on how to keep her out of trouble and left her with one of the hospital's foal caregivers. He felt she was too young to be exposed to something this extreme.

Shining Armor was lead down a hallway into a wing meant for rehabilitating patients who were mentally afflicted. It was quiet for the most part, spotless, with calm background music playing over the intercom. Despite the few oddly acting individuals doing things that could be seen as unusual for anypony else, it was surprisingly normal.

They reached a door with a plaque reading Dr. Wolf on it. When the nurse knocked on the door, they heard a young-sounding voice on the other side say, “Come in.” The unicorn stallion was ushered through the door and was surprised to see not a pony but an actual wolf with white fur… standing on his hind legs.

“Ah, you must be Shining Armor. Please, have a seat.” Said Dr. Wolf as he put down a folder. “I was just reviewing your request to talk to my patient; Uh, I believe he goes by Sharp Shooter, about his… condition,” He said the last word hesitantly as if he were still against the idea. “I do understand what your asking, however, I feel that it might cause more harm to his psyche than it would be worth. If we were to go through with this, what do you plan on doing with what you learn?” Dr. Wolf said genuinely concerned for his patient’s ailment.

“Mm-hm,” Shining said in response.

Dr. Wolf raised an eyebrow, “Shining Armor, were you listening to me?”

“Huh?” Shining Armor said as he snapped back to reality, “Oh, sorry I’ve recently had a lot on my mind. You said that… Uh, Shooter might get… that this could…”

“I was saying that I’m still concerned about my patient’s mental health, and what you’re requesting could damage the progress we’ve made so far… Is there something you would like to discuss? if so, I’m all ears.”

“It’s complicated, probably not something you’d want to listen to anyways.”

Doctor Wolf gave him a blatant stare folding his front paws, “As a therapist, it’s literally in my job description to help others by listening to problems they are having. And from the looks of it, you seem to have one that is affecting your daily activities. What’s on your mind?” He sat down in his wingback chair.

The white stallion gave a defeated sigh, “It’s my wife, she’s been… Ah, acting strange, to put it bluntly.”

Dr. Wolf gave a mild look of panic, “Don’t tell me this is another Canterlot wedding inci—”

“No no! No,” Shining Armor quickly interrupted, “It’s different, way different. It is her, I assure you.”

“ _But_?” Dr. Wolf said, knowing there was more.

“But it’s not?”

There was an awkward silence before the doctor spoke, “Maybe you need to elaborate a little bit more on what you mean.”

Shining rubbed the back of his neck as he started to explain, “Cadence recently went on a friendship quest, but the moment she came back, she’s hasn’t been acting like she normally would. After our wedding, we came up with a system to avoid something like that from happening again.”

Dr. Wolf nodded in agreement, “I see, that seems like a smart idea. But I’m guessing that if your system had worked, you wouldn’t be telling me this.” Shining giving a look that said otherwise, “Or it did work and…”

“Every time I test her, she passes with flying colors. I should have seen it from the beginning, Flurryheart did and still does.”

“Oh?”

“I can’t leave her alone with my wife for more two seconds, even being around Cadence, she gets uneasy and stays close to me. Most importantly, she’s hiding something from me... My wife, not Flurryheart.”

“Okay, do you have any idea what it might be?” Dr. Wolf said, leaning back in his chair.

“That’s what’s bugging me. I can’t put my hoof on it. But whatever it is, Cadence is gone for long periods of time and doesn’t tell me where she was. And all she says is, ‘it’s complicated’ or ‘I’m not suppose to talk about it,’ why? Because ‘it’s complicated.’ She at least told me it has something to do with the friendship quest.”

“I see,” Dr. Wolf said thoughtfully. “And you’re absolutely sure it’s Cadence?”

“Not the same one that asked me to get intel from your patient. But it couldn’t possibly be anypony else.” Shining Armor heaved a sigh, “Doc, this was the last thing my wife asked me to do before she went on her friendship quest. Which, might I add, also involved the elements of harmony, the pillars of ancient Equestria, and Princess Celestia and Luna. If my wife really turns out not to be my wife, what are the odds that they aren’t either? If Sharp Shooter is the only one who has information to confirm if this another attack on Equestria or not, wouldn’t you want to do something about it?”

It took a moment for the wolf to swallow this new information, “Hold on. You’re saying Cadence, your wife, has been acting strangely, and the friendship quest she went on involved the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria?”

“Yes, which is why talking to Shooter about what he saw in the frozen wastes of the Crystal Empire is very important right now. If they have also been acting strangely, then we need to find out why as soon as possible.”

Dr. wolf rubbed the spot between his eyes, taking a deep breath in then released, “Sacrificing one for the good of the many.”

“What?”

“Oh, that’s just a saying that—”

“I know it’s a saying, but what do you mean by it?”

“I mean, that I will take this new information and hope that Sharp Shooter will be the only patient that will have to deal with this issue. And I have an idea of how I can execute this with…” Dr. Wolf paused when he saw Shining's face. “ _minor casualties_  to Shooter’s mentality. If you though what I think your thinking, I suggest you set an appointment with a therapist.” Hearing that made Shining chuckle. “The process I plan on using is hypnosis. However, this can be damaging to the mind if the procedure is mishandled. So, I will need complete and utter silence while I work.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, Shooter, now I want you to think back to the last day you were on duty.” Dr. Wolf was setting the grounds to access Shooter's suppressed memories safely. The pegasus guard was lying on a table with his eyes shut. “You're on the wall looking out at the landscape. You can feel the sun…”

“Burning my eyes.” Shooter interrupted.

“Yes… burning your eyes… just focus on my voice, don’t say anything unless I ask you a question. You feel the wall under your hoofs, and the breeze blowing a chill air around you. What do you see?”

“I see snow. Miles and miles of sno— what was that?”

“Did you see something? Describe it for me.”

“There was a… a smudge… in the distance, it was only there for less than a second.”

Shining Armor pulled out a note pad, ready to jot down a brief description if needed.

“What shape was the smudge?”

“I’m… not sure, it doesn’t match any creature that would be native to this area or a changeling. Actually, it might be a changeling because… no, that wouldn’t make sense, why would a changeling have to disguise itself and from what? There has been nothing for hours. I need to investigate this.”

“Okay you got permission to investigate, what are you doing now?”

“Wow! This thing knows how to hide. I know what snow is supposed to look like, not like this. It looks very convincing. They covered their tracks good, I almost can’t follow them, and that’s saying something.”

“Okay,” Dr. Wolf said with a look of concern knowing that soon he would be in turbulent water, “You are following the tracks, then what?”

“I hear something… scratching? No digging. I’m going to land. Remember your training. Perfect! Not a sound… there’s no sound. Where did it go?”

This was the part that Dr. Wolf was most afraid of, “Be careful, you don’t know what you’re going to find.”

The white stallion and Dr. Wolf both saw the color drain from Shooter’s face. “Sombra’s horn.”

Shining dropped the quill he was holding as silence followed. Then Shooter continued, “There’s an outline of a hole where it should be, but it’s gone,” the pegasus started to quiver with the fear he felt before, “Something took it, this is too big to ignore we need to… there’s something… behind… me.”

“I’m pulling out. Shooter, when I snap, you will wake up and forget everything that transpired.” Dr. Wolf stated.

Shinning gave a look of panic and loudly whispered, “We’re so close, why stop—”

The wolf snapped, and Shooter cried out in terror. “Sleep!” this time, Dr. Wolf clapped, but it was still no use. The wolf backed up to Shinning as the pegasus flailed in a state of panic. “This is what I was afraid of, but not to this degree!” he exclaimed.

Shining and Dr. Wolf watched for a meer ten seconds as Shooter had his panic attack, then curl up in the corner of the room and started to chuckle. “You don’t know what we’re up against.” Shooter sounded like he had become a darker version of himself as he laughed like a loon. “Oh, you thought Sombra was bad? no nonono, you’re mistaken, he he he, this  _abomination_  is far worse, ha ha ha ha ha.”

Shining Armor pick up the quill he dropped using his magic. “Describe them.”

Shooter lifted his head, and what they saw wasn’t the same pegasus as before. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks and had abandoned all hope. When he gave his response, it wasn't what Shinning was expecting, “Death, pain, and suffering, he is the downfall of Equestria, our doom.”

Shinning reworded the same question, “What do they look like?”

“Beware the wingless demon clocked in angelic feathers, the stench he carries is the blood of his past, his victims. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! His eyes hold endless rage and limitless agony. Bloodlust. All he knows is death and torment!”

Dr. Wolf looked at Shining Armor. “Did you get what you came for?” he said with a slight hint of irritation.

“Wingless, feathers, stench, I don’t think I’ll get more out of him than that.” Answered Shining, not entirely satisfied with the information he acquired.

“In that case,” They both looked at the pegasus, “I think you should leave. I have to rehabilitate Sharpshooter… again”

* * *

 

Deep in the Everfree forest, inside the castle of the two sisters, Twilight was inscribing the last rune necessary to perform the spell in the journal. “Almost… done…” She used the utmost care to get the runic inscription exact. “There, finished.” Twilight thoughtfully looked at the spell written in the entire second half of the journal, and then the markings on the floor, walls, and ceilings, coving every inch of the structure inside and out, “Maybe I should double-check this.”

An audible moan filled the room, “Come on, Twilight! “ Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “It’s been over three hours!”

“Hey, if this is inaccurately inscribed, a lot could happen.” The purple alicorn warned, “The most likely outcome, being a 14% chance higher than the rest, Equestria implodes itself into another dimension, and we’re all left to suffocate in the void of space… across time.”

“Translation, please? Me not speak egghead.”

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh then gave the cyan pegasus a deadpan glare, “There’s a 97% chance every creature on the planet will die if this is done incorrectly. Trust me, I usually find stuff like this fun and exciting, but it’s starting to become boring.”

Twilight actually said boring. The silence that followed was deafening. Pinkie was the one who broke the ice. She pulled the book aside and as she backed her friend against a wall while saying, “Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Twilight?” the pink mare then shoved her face into Twilights, “Answer me!”

Twilight closed the journal and—

“Turned out to be Retribution in disguise, we united the power of our friendship, blasted him into another dimension where he can never return, found the real Twilight, and we all lived happily ever after. THE END!!”

(cricket noise)

“Oh, you think I broke a pinkie promise. Technically I wasn’t the one who made that promise. It was the human version of me that did.”

(cricket noise)

“COME ON!! This is getting way too—"

“Can! I! Do! My! Job?!”

“Rah, fine!”

Twinky closed the…  _Twilight_  closed the journal and set it down. “I  _don’t_  want to do this, casting this spell has a high risk of the ending the world as we know it.” She turned to face everyone present. “There’s a choice to be made here, abandon those who reached out for our help or risk the safety of the planet. It’s not an easy choice, but I have a feeling that a world controlled by Retribution is worse than no world at all. If what we are doing is enough to foil his plans for what seems to be world domination, then I’m willing to take that risk to help those who need it most.” Twilight picked the book back up and began flipping through the pages. “I just need to make sure this is done right the first time, because if it isn’t… there won’t be a next time.”

“We’ll help you.”

“No,  _I_  need to know that it’s done right. If I don’t, my chances of messing up my part increases by 47%. Yes, I did the math. I need to double-check this alone.”

“If Sir E and Riot were here, this would have been done in minutes.” Said Sunset, “Too bad they're busy at the moment, they would have been very—”

“I’m sorry, who?” Starlight interrupted.

“Oh, I never told you guys! This will take a while, but so will Twilight as she double-checks this spell, so you better make yourselves comfortable.” Sunset sat herself down, then said, “Honestly, I didn’t play a part in most of what I’m about to tell you, but for those of you who don’t know, I can access past memories, so I’m just going off of what I learned afterward.


	8. Riding in Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunset begins the story as to what happened after Tirek's attack from what she can recall. Sir E, being the chivalrous gentleman he is, offers his assistance as an apology for the major misconduct Riot committed. As the girls are given a ride in his lavish limo, a detail slips out that make them question their trust in Sir E and his real motives. What could he be hiding?

Sunset screamed a few times then shouted in stretched out words, “MAKE IT STO—" Applejack rushed over and punched her, knocking Sunset out cold.

“I am… so… sorry,” Applejack said, winded from the quick dash she made, “Doin’ that hurt me… a lot more than it hurt you. I hope you forgive me when you wake up.”

Sir E sighed as he placed his forehead in one hand and his elbow on the other, “Oh dear, I believe an apology is in order.” He retrieved a cellphone from his pocket and hit a speed dial number. “Hi, yes, could you bring the limo up to the front? I’ll be coming out shortly, and I’ll also be transporting~ around six passengers… much appreciated, by the way, did you take the Mercedes to the shop?... Were they informed about the warped camshaft I heard on the way here?... What of the piston rings, are they instructed to replace all of those as well?... Excellent, I’ll be there, momentarily.” Sir E hung up and waved an EMT over, “Could you send Ms. Shimmer to the finest medical facility and take her to the best psychiatric ward they can provide? I’ll be following behind.”

“Yeah, no problem?” he sounded unsure of how much of that request he should follow.

“Wonderful, right this way ladies. Oh! Silly me,” Sir E slapped his forehead, “Nearly forgot my cane.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go grab it for you.” Rarity offered and went to retrieve the two parts of Sir E’s cane. When she put it back together, she couldn’t help being entranced by nearly every aspect from the polished white pearl epoxy resin shaft to the large black diamond in the center of the silver horse head handle.

“I want to go with Sunset,” Twilight said, her friends quickly joining in her decision.

Sir E looked at the ambulance and asked the EMT, “Is there a camera inside the vehicle?”

“Yes, there is, why do you ask?”

“How does this sound.” Sir E leaned on his cane as he spoke, “with your permission, I can piggyback off the camera feed and have it stream to the inside of my transport.” He got onto his phone again and began texting, “That will allow all you girls to keep an eye on your friend in my limo without having to crowd the back of the ambulance. Once we get to the hospital, you can spend as much time as you need by Sunset’s side.” He put his phone away and faced the group. “Does that like a reasonable idea?” Everyone except Applejack agreed. Applejack stayed with Sunset while Sir E lead the rest of the girls to his limousine.

“Here we… are,” Sir E stated when they saw a limo that couldn’t possibly belong to anyone else.

Rarity was the first to speak, “Th— that’s— that’s a— a Rolls. That’s an  _antique_  Rolls Royce Excalibur!”

“Gee Rarity, you make it sound like it’s a big deal.” Twilight said flatly, “Don’t  _you_  have a limo?”

“Um actually,” Rainbow piped up, her knowledge on the subject of cars bursting at the seams, “When old Rolls Royce cars were built, each individual part was crafted by hand making no two cars the same. This one in particular… uh, well—”

“It’s rather misleading, is it not?” Sir E spoke over Rainbow, “It’s originally manufactured in the 1930s. However, it does have a few additional modern features, but the exterior is designed specifically to look like its antique counterpart and run without the use of any computer systems. And yes, it is all handcrafted.” Sir E walked up to the chauffeur who had opened the door for him, but he stopped before he got inside and said, “When I called for a replacement limousine, I asked for something clas _sy,_  not clas _sic_.”

The driver looked like she just knocked on death’s door by mistake as she started to apologize profusely. “I am so, terribly sorry sir! There must have—”

“Ah-ah-ah… Say no more, think nothing of it,” Sir E politely interrupted, “Human error is always understandable.” He turned around and gestured to the inside of the vehicle using his cane, “Now then, I believe it’s ladies first?”

As they filed into the limousine that was worth more than any house they could dream of affording, Rainbow faced Sir E before going in and asked him a question. “You said that there was a monitor in your limo, but then I heard you tell the driver you were expecting something different. So what I’m trying to get at is, are we still able to do what you said you would or not?”

Sir E didn’t hesitate to answer, “My dear, every vehicle I have is capable of doing just that.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “How many cars do you have?”

“I have access to one of every make, model, and year as well as… around the same amount of customized vehicles.”

“Hey, Rainbow!” Pinkie called out from inside, “Check it out! These seats have a massage function.” She pressed a button as her entire body began to vibrate. “Ooh~wee~ oh, that feels nice,” Pinkie melted into the spazzing out chair filled with satisfaction “It’s like I’m sitting on a washing machine,”

“Are you serious!” Rainbow climbed into the limo, bursting with excitement. The first thing she noticed was not just the chairs, because it was impossible to. The seats connected to the siding linking to the floor attached to the table, in turn, complementing the ceiling that had a harmonious relationship with the windows flowing back into the chairs. It was at though it started as one solid piece before being carved out by master jewelers then accented with varnished ebony wood and trimmed with silver inlaid with gemstones. When Rainbow could finally focus on the white seats, she asked, “Do they have more options? Does it have temperature control?”

“Of course they do, just like the cupholders.” Rarity said with the headrest gently rubbing her scalp and shoulders. “I don’t suppose you have any drinks in here, do you E?”

“Sir E, if you would.” He said as he entered the vehicle and sat down, depositing his cane under the lip of the table, and his hightop hat on a hatrack in a corner. He then let his long white drape over his left shoulder. “And yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” He pulled out a remote and pressed a button, causing the table to open in the center.

everyone oohed as a tray with bottles of grape, apple, and cranberry juice as well as crystal-cut wine glasses grooved with floral and diamond patters with hexagonal stems rose up and fit snuggly into the hole that was opened, leaving a flawless surface. “Ah, before you get the wrong idea,” Sir E said quickly, while he started to braid his perfectly straight hair in a loose ponytail. “don’t worry, I’ve never been fond of alcohol, I find it rather… pointless to be honest. Please, help yourselves.”

It was now the group notice the new mask Sir E wore. It looked as though it were the eye of a cloudy vortex and was a mix of grayish light and dark blues. If you were to stare at long enough, anyone could have sworn that the wispy smoke-like columns were genuinely descending into the dark center like a rheoscopic fluid disk. Like his previous mask, it lacked eye holes as well.

When Sir E noticed them staring, he decided to get the elephant out of the room, “I understand that all of you have many questions,” he poured himself some grape juice, “feel free to ask me whatever you wish, and I will answer what I am allowed to.” He reached up and opened a slit in the mask near his mouth, allowing him to drink and closed it after he was done, leaving it seamless once more.

“Uh, where’s the monitor?” Rainbow started, “You said you had one, but I don’t see it.”

Sir E chuckled, “I never said I had a monitor my friend. Clear the center of the table, and let me show you what I meant.”

Everyone grabbed a glass and filled theirs with one of the drinks provided, Rarity hesitated for a moment after pouring her drink, quickly glancing at the cup before stifling a laugh. “let me guess, these crystal glasses… are diamonds!” A few of her friends couldn’t help but chuckle at the joke she made.

“It would seem you do have an eye for detail, after all.” Sir E responded, only making them laugh a little harder, although he didn’t appear to be laughing with them.

“You know I was joking, right?” Rarity said with an awkward smile on her face.

“I wasn’t.” hearing Sir E say those words made everyone stare more intently at the glasses they held.

Rarity, being the expert in gemstones, confirmed Sir E’s statement by placing her hand over her mouth and rapidly placing her cup back on the table but ended up spilling the contents everywhere. “Oh my, gracious!” She began frantically looking for something to wipe up the mess, “Napkins!  _Napkins!!_  AHH!!!  _The leather!!!!_  AHHH!!!!”

“Wait, this is leather?” Flutter Shy whispered as she began to feel small.

“Calm yourselves, both of you.” Sir E leaned to the side, placing one foot on his knee, resting his elbow on the armrest and his head on a fist while still holding his drink in the other hand. “This is grape leather, so no animals were harmed in its making. As for you, Miss Rarity. If you could just stand up and let me deal with that predicament,” he said serenely. Once Rarity did as she was told, he gave a minute wave with the wineglass still in his hand. A crackling was heard in the area with the stain as white light flickered, completely erasing the stains. The diamond glass was back on the table filled with the drink that spilled, “There, you see? Good as new, nothing to worry your pretty little self over.”

Everyone stared in astonishment at the act Sir E made, “You… just used magic? Didn’t you.” Rainbow said on everyone's behalf.

“That is correct,” Sir E admitted, “for those who haven’t figured it out by now, I may as well tell you that I am actually from the world you all know as—”

“Equestria!?” They all said in unison.

Sir E adjusted his position so he leaned over the table, “Once again, you are correct.” He took another drink from his glass, “Another thing to mention is that my… power … is restricted in this word,  _but_  as you just witnessed, there are a few areas I can access this… energy … … Like in this… car.” The liquid in his glass was rippling slightly from his trembling hand. He placed the fingertips of his left hand, where the center of his forehead would be under the mask.

After a moment of silence, Twilight spoke up, “Hey, are you okay?”

Sir E snapped out of his stupor, “What am I doing? We completely changed the subject of our conversation, haven’t we?”

“Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, when exactly are we going to start moving?” Asked Fluttershy, “it feels like we’ve have been sitting here for a while.”

Sir E’s head tilted as if confused, “Whatever do you mean, my dear? We are moving, look outside and see for yourself. You can even roll down the window and feel the wind if so wish to.” He was right. Outside the window, they were already driving, but it felt to them as if they were at a perfect standstill.

“That. Is. Insane!” exclaimed Twilight looking at the liquid in her glass, “The cranberry juice in my glass isn’t even—” it was then she noticed something peculiar and started to exchange glances between her drink and outside. “What the…?” She held the glass between her and the view through the window squinting her eyes and, to a certain extent, tilting the glass in various ways, “Uh guys? We’re on a hill. By that, I mean a slant, but my drink level to the floor inside this vehicle.”

“Now then,” Sir E spoke up, leaving Twilights question to hang, “as for the visual I promised on your friends in the ambulance.” Sir E pulled out the remote from before and press a button. Once he did, an image appeared in the center of the table, a picture of Applejack and Sunset in 3-D.

“Is that a hologram!?… Like… what Vignette Valencia had?” Said Twilight, using a questioning tone.

“It even looks exactly like the ones she used,” Rarity added.

“You are all on the ball.” Sir E said in congratulations, “keep this up, and I won’t have as much trouble as I anticipated to tell you what’s going on.” Had they heard him right? Was he admitting to be responsible for an issue prior to the one they were currently in?

When everyone gave him disbelieving stares, Sir E knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. “In my defense, I was away at the time of the accident that led to the escape of a few prototype spells.”

“You’re the one responsible for all the trouble we’ve been through!?” Rainbow said, accusingly pointing at Sir E, upon saying that everyone stood up and started to back as far away as they could from him.

“Correction, I am… well,” He paused for a moment stroking the chin of the mask, making sure what he said next was put in a way for them to listen to his side of the story. “lets back up just a little, shall we? Had it not been for me, the gems you are currently wearing in your necklaces never would have been created,” Everyone unanimously fingered their geods upon hearing those words. “Furthermore, they never would have fallen into your hands had that accident not occurred, not that they were ever supposed to, to begin with.” He said in a way that sounded frustrated, “Are we now all on the same page? Like I said before, I was absent during the time of that unfortunate catastrophe. But it’s been seen to that it will  _never_  happen again.”

“You were the one who broke into my lab, weren’t you?” Asked Twilight.

Up until this point, Sir E had the appearance of a king on his throne, but when he heard Twilight say what she did, his body language turned more serious, “When did that transpire and was anything stolen?”

“You should know, your—”

“Twilight!” Sir E cut her off as he stood up, his hands firmly on the table, “This is serious. There are forces in motion here that none of you are comprehensively ready to even remotely understand yet.”

The beep of an intercom sounded, and the driver spoke.  _“Sir, we have arrived at our destination.”_

Sir E fell back into his chair and rested his head between his forefinger and thumb. “I’m afraid we’ll have to continue later.” He waved his finger around the table, pointing at each of the girls, “This conversation is  _not_  over. When you need me again, and you will, just call the number on this card.” He pulled out two business cards and slid them across the table. Rarity picked them up. “I’m giving you a second one to give the receptionist at the front desk. I shall provide and accommodate for anything needed for the treatment required to help your friend Sunset.”

The chauffeur opened the door, “Au revoir mesdames,” Sir E said in farewell with a perfect French accent, dismissing them with the wave of his hand then reverted into his posh dialect. “This is as far as I take you for the moment, I don’t wish to keep your friends waiting any longer then they need to.” The girls shuffled out of the limousine without saying a word, thanks to the unfortunate turn of the conversation. Once they were all outside, Sir E rolled down the window and added, “Et soyez en sécurité pendant mon absence.”

“Je suis sûr que nous pouvons prendre soin de nous-mêmes, merci beaucoup,” Rarity responded with a snarky tone, earning her a surprised glance from her friends.

“Nous verrons,” The window began rolling up as the limo drove away.

Rarity looked at everyone as they continued to stare. “What? I have relatives in France, didn’t I tell you?”

“No… you didn’t.” Said Fluttershy.

“Oh, ha-ha, it uh, must have slipped my mind.” Rarity rubbed the back of her head out of embarrassment.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, I only know a little French,” Twilight said, “but it sounded like he wished us luck?”

Rarity scoffed, “he was ‘hoping for our safety’ while he was away. But I told him we are quite capable of handling ourselves.” She said, turning away in a huff as she started to make her way to the entrance of the hospital.

 

* * *

 

 Sir E sat alone in the limo in deep contemplation. Once he made up his mind, he pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial. After only half a ring, it was answered,  _“What.”_

“Bad news, I just learned that Twilight’s la—”

_“Twilight’s lab has been burglarized, yes, I know. I’m also aware of what was stolen.”_

Sir E paused before speaking again “When did—”

_“I overheard them talking about it at the mall.”_

This time the distinguished gentleman made a tight fist, “You know I—”

_“Hate being interrupted? So, do, I.”_

_Breathe in… hold it… Breathe out._  “My apologies, Riot. I assume you’ve already decided how this matter is to be settled?”

_“They made their move, I’m in the middle of mine. Even though this maneuver will expose us more to our opponent, their plan is already in motion, all we can do is ready ourselves for what comes next. There is a window of opportunity that will allow me to obtain what I’ve been after without them being able to stop me from doing so._

_“I also have a plan to throw them off our trail long enough to gain the upper hand. As intricate as my strategy is, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Now tell me, is there anything else you want to say that I don’t already know about?”_

“No, sir,” Sir E said with a certain disquiet in his voice, “that is all.” He heard the line cut out, ending the call without any form of goodbye.

He turned the screen off and tapped his phone at mouth level on his mask, thinking of what his next action should be. “Now then, I believe I should exchange to a more appropriate vehicle before the girls contact me.” As much as he didn’t want them to be involved, they were already the targets of an exceptionally deeper conspiracy then they could ever realize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay, I'm a slow typer with a full plate. If you're interested, I'm beginning to look for someone to help me with either editing or co-writing. if you're interested let me know in the comment section.


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